STOP David Clifford and you stop Kerry? It's not quite as simple as that because there are many strings to the Kingdom bow but dealing with the Fossa genius will have caused Dessie Farrell and the Dublin thinktank restless nights in the build-up to All-Ireland final.
Paddy Andrews won seven Sam Maguires with the Dubs during their golden era and the St Brigid's clubman, who retired in 2020, concedes that the Clifford conundrum is a hard one to solve. Andrews says Clifford creates a "magical moment" in every game and if produces a couple on Sunday the Dublin defence will be in trouble.
"You're coming up against one of the best players in the game today and one of the best players we've ever seen," he said..
"He's still a relatively young guy but what he has done to date and how consistently he performs... It's scary for opponents, there's no two ways about it.
"You can get caught up and overly-focus on one player. Kerry have a lot of other dangerous opponents as well, the likes of Sean O'Shea and (Paul) Geaney who has hurt Dublin before in big games. Guys like Mick Fitzsimons and Stephen Cluxton are realy experienced players who have come up against exceptional players, exceptional opponents before. There is excitement around the country to see David Clifford play - he has been in absolutely astonishing for four or five years - but within the Dublin camp they'll be a bit more measured and focussed on trying to deal with him and the rest of the Kerry attack because they have matchwinners all over the pitch. That's the challenge Kerry create. If Dublin manage to shut down the Kerry attack and keep Clifford quiet that goes a long way to winning the game - he's that important.
"The Dublin players will have a gameplan and they'll need to perform and minimise the damage Clifford can do. This season, every time he goes out on the putch there seems to be a magical moment from him and that's the quality of the player. But if you want to win the All-Ireland you have to be able to deal with players like that and that's the challenge for Dublin."
After losing All-Ireland semi-finals to Mayo (2021) and Kerry last year Dublin were criticised for their lack of squad depth but that doesn't seem to be the case this year. Jack McCaffrey, Ciaran Kilkenny and Dean Rock - certain starters in almost ever other team in the land - were all held in reserve in the semi-final and they were sprung off the bench to see the Dubs past battling Monaghan.
"Look at Dublin's key players throughout the summer - Sean Bugler, Colm Basquel, Cormac Costello, guys who have really been standing up and taking ownership and leadership in the team and that creates good problems for the management that they have plenty of options," said Andrews.
"We're not going to know (what the team is) until five or 10 minutes before throw-in and Jack O'Connor has a couple of selection choices to make as well."
Dublin have strength-in-depth, Kerry have the stand-out individual. Kerry demolished Tyrone at the quarter-final stage and Dublin did the same against Mayo. In the semi-finals both teams were pushed hard but came through late in the game... It's a finely-balanced final that the Dubs will edge says Andrews.
"Sunday is going to be an exceptional game," he predicted.
"If I was a betting man(and maybe this is a bit if bias) I think Dublin are going to nick it on Sunday. The options they have are a major plus and I get the sense that there's a real edge to Dublin's play in the biggest moments."
