Kerry footballer Jason Foley admits that his side have a big target on their back after last year's All-Ireland triumph.
The Kingdom edged out Galway in last year’s final and Foley believes that they now have to 'evolve' their approach and style of play to deal with new challenges.
Foley’s side take on Clare in Sunday’s Munster final at the Gaelic Grounds, with the newly formatted All-Ireland group stages also awaiting them.
Having marked themselves out as the team to beat with last year’s Sam Maguire triumph, Foley acknowledges that they will have to make tweaks to their approach, given the extra scrutiny that the defending champions will come under
"You have to change or probably evolve is the word I’d use," he said. "You have to evolve as a group and a squad on and off the field.
"When you’re successful or when you win an All-Ireland there’s a target on your back and you’re the focus of a lot of attention.
"You want to stick to your values and try to evolve at the same time to be ready for the challenges that might arise.
"We’ll try to foresee what teams might try to do to us so 'evolve’ is the word I’d use the most, I think that’s as important as everything else.
"Teams will have focused on us more than anything else, that’s the way it goes for teams on top for any period of time, teams will look at them and say ‘where can we get at them?’
"Teams will try to figure ways to get the better of us and we had a few good tests during the league and we lost a few games.
"That’s important for us to see where we can evole or see where we can improve."
Kerry are heavy favourites going into Sunday’s Munster final and victory would see them placed in Group 1 of the new All-Ireland stage where they would face Cork, Mayo and most likely Dublin.
Foley is a fan of the new format and he believes that the week-to-week nature of group football will help to hone teams and offer plenty of excitement for supporters.
"Most players they would say they'd prefer to be playing good championship games as opposed to having three or four weeks off with training," he said.
"It is great really that we are able to see a pathway ahead that will hopefully have a game maybe every second week for a good portion of the year, it is brilliant really."
However, despite the intrigue surrounding the new format and how it will play out, Foley is still very much focused on Sunday’s clash with Clare.
"We are expecting a big test at the weekend, it is exactly what every team needs, it is exactly what we need at this time of the year," he said.
"We are looking forward to getting up to Limerick and getting stuck in."
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Kerry footballer, Jason Foley, was speaking as AIB announced a five-year extension to its sponsorships of the GAA All-Ireland Football Championship and the AIB Camogie and GAA All-Ireland Club Championships.
