Would Kerry have prevailed over Dublin if the All-Ireland SFC semi-final had gone to extra-time?
It's a moot point that will stay littered on the cutting room floor of history given how Seanie O'Shea's nerveless free ensured no other eventuality other than the Kingdom's passage into a Croke Park decider against Galway on Sunday.
Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan had a bird's eye view of O'Shea's extraordinary point as he told RTÉ Sport in the shadow of a potentially rewarding weekend on the silverware front.
"I was directly behind it. I was probably on our '45 and when the ball left his boot you were with it the whole way over and thank God it was a super kick and put us in a position that we're in today," he said.
"We were hoping it would go over but at the back of your head you're preparing for extra-time too. I'm just delighted it went over and that it put us into the position we want to be in which is an All-Ireland final."
Ryan said he had no doubts O'Shea would deliver as he stood over the kick, succinctly stating: "When you see Seanie night in, night out in training, you know his capabilities."
It's not just one individual's capabilitiess that is giving the Rathmore clubman quiet confidence ahead of the final against Galway. The potential within the collective is buoying him.
"Any team that goes out to play a championship game, you think you're going to win. That's what we do it for," he said.
"We set out our stall in January of each year. We think we're capable but we're very aware that we're going to need to be performing at the highest levels that we have."
But that being said, given he is the last line of defence in a game featuring potent forward lines on both sides, Ryan is under no illusion of the threat Galway will pose to Kerry's bid for a record-extending 38th senior football crown.
"We're very excited. It's going to be a huge challenge for us and we know we're going to have to be on our A game. They bring a lot of threats all over the field both in their attacking unit and defensively so we know we're going to have to have our homework done and we're going to have to bring the performance on the day," he said.
"We're very focused and there's very few players in our team that have All-Ireland medals. At the end of the day it is just another game, Dublin's in the rear view mirror now. That's parked so we're really focused on Galway and really looking forward to the challenge."
Follow the All-Ireland Football Championship final on Sunday, Galway v Kerry, from 2pm via our live blogs on rte.ie/sport or on the RTÉ News app. Watch live coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with live radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
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