Alan Brogan has sounded a word of warning to Derry and, if they overcome them, to Dublin/Monaghan.
Because when it comes to Kerry, he's been burned before.
There's a certain tendency, and it came to light more than ever last week, to pigeon-hole the Kingdom as some sort of ball-playing team who, for one reason or another, aren't as fond of the physical exchanges as other teams.
Granted, there have been days in the past where Tyrone horsed Kerry out of it but Kerry have done that to Tyrone, and they've done that to other teams too. On Saturday, in their eagerly anticipated All-Ireland quarter final clash, Kerry didn't just out-play Tyrone; they out-fought them too.
Speaking on this week's GAA Hour, happy as Larry after Dublin's win over Mayo, Brogan gave Kerry the credit that they're due.
"All the talk during the week was of the Tyrone physicality," says the
St. Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh club-man, "the Tyrone tackling, how will Kerry cope with that. Maybe that started to play into the Tyrone psyche," he says.
"There's this perception that Kerry want to come out and play a fancy game of football.
"They don't.
"Kerry are dogs as well when they have to be. And when you look at their defenders, Graham O'Sullivan, Tom O'Sullivan, they're tough, hard corner backs.
[caption id="attachment_289817" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
1 July 2023; Michael O’Neill of Tyrone is tackled by Adrian Spillane of Kerry during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final match between Kerry and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo John Sheridan/Sportsfile[/caption]
"Maybe Tyrone fell into that trap of thinking - we're the ones that are going to bring the physicality and Kerry will want to play football. And it was completely the other way - Kerry brought the physicality.
"Tyrone looked like they just weren't ready," continued Brogan.
"They couldn't cope with the intensity that Kerry brought.
"Maybe it's a role-reversal of what we're used to, but I've been on the receiving end of that in Dublin myself where you go into this game thinking you're going to have a nice open game of football with Kerry but it's not, Kerry more often than not are more physical and more intense than most teams.
"If you're playing Kerry, you need to be prepared for that.
"Yeah, they have lovely footballers, how do we stop Clifford and all that, but all over the field, Kerry bring an intensity that maybe you don't expect."
Watch The GAA Hour here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kSgli0APSQ
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