I was reared on memories of Tyrone's 1986 meeting with Kerry. It felt like almost an honour for that Tyrone team to have done what they did in even ruffling the feathers of those green and gold-clad icons in that All-Ireland semi-final.
Even as a child I remember struggling to compute how a team could be seven points up in the second half and still lose by eight. The penalty chipped over the bar. The impact of Mr Spillane. Tyrone got all the typical Kerry warm words in the aftermath, but Kerry had done what they have done to so many: put us back in our place.
2003. Tyrone won the National League, won the Ulster title and won their first ever All-Ireland. Yet, for me, the seminal game was the semi-final. You know the one. The one that provoked that wave of nausea in the same man who had run riot 17 years previous.
Pre-game, in that dressing room underneath the Hogan Stand, a combination of an all-conquering underage group hungry to prove themselves as seniors and several special older heads, knew this was our day of days.
Most of those older heads had come through (mostly bandaged) that other infamous Tyrone semi-final in 1996. That day, against the Royals this time, Tyrone had been reminded of their place. Sneers of boys trying to play a man's game and being 'soft’ stuck. Tyrone were ‘too small and nice’ to ever win anything.
On that day in 2003, Tyrone as a people, discovered their esprit de corps. Tell us we can’t and we’ll show you. Look down on us and we’ll be standing over you by the end.
Tyrone’s football in the first half was of the highest order yet it’s the eponymous tackling scene that is most frequently recalled. The deafening roar from the Hogan Stand, in whose shadow the human pinball game occurred, increased with every tackle.
It was as if the demons of our past were being exorcised right there. As one people we were saying, "We aren’t the wee boys anymore".
As the dust settled on that maiden win, the wider sense was clearly of a team who had caught the blue bloods on the hop. Hence come 2005, the script was written that Kerry, having learned their lesson, would be ready and their footballing ability would restore the pecking order.
We were happy enough with that. We knew well how good they were. The talent, craft, leaders - it was all there. But we knew, at our best, we could go toe-to-toe with them.
I’m not sure they were in the same mindset. Having come through nine games, including three with Armagh, we were ready to go the full 12 rounds. Kerry, destroying Cork in their semi, were not. Maybe they wanted to land a few knockout blows but we were in Rocky mode. Still standing when they thought we would be gone, they blinked first and we pushed for home.
'Caught on the hop' and ‘nouveau riche’. Those two terms speak of a traditional power struggling to avoid an innate sense of superiority
The 'nouveau riche' thing was still there. We knew it long before Jack O’Connor put it in his book. To be honest it suited us just fine and paid dividends again in 2008.
We had looked down and out earlier that year. The beards fitted that impression and set against the shining new Twin Towers, Kerry confidence had returned.
Surely, they couldn’t get caught on the hop a third time, was the narrative. ‘Caught on the hop’ and ‘nouveau riche’. Those two terms speak of a traditional power struggling to avoid an innate sense of superiority.
The very thing that ignites the ‘Tyroney’ chip on the shoulder.
By the final whistle, the trick had been pulled again. Strike three was complete. This one almost seemed to shock Kerry the most. For them something still didn’t add up.
Over the next 10 years Tyrone were on the wane and Kerry quickly reasserted their dominance. During this spell Tyrone’s performances missed the intensity which characterised the previous meetings.
Ironically, in that era, where the model was very much stay out of contact, drop back and set up deep, the absence of a man-to-man element meant Tyrone couldn’t go after Kerry the way they had done in the past.
In 2021 however, the narrative of the noughties was re-established. Kerry were strong favourites even before Tyrone met with Covid. Some of the commentary saw Kerry’s agreement to the refixture as a shrewd move allowing, as it did, better prep for the All-Ireland final.
Well, that type of chat lined up the ducks and set the scene for another episode of ‘caught on the hop’. Kerry may have been very unlucky to lose but Tyrone made their own luck too by playing with an intensity not seen from them in Croker since 2008. They chased Kerry all over the pitch. Man-to-man battles were back, as were Tyrone.
Unbelievably in 2021 Kerry seemed surprised at the intensity of Tyrone’s performance. That will not be the case this weekend. For me Tyrone are a better side now. Yes, some players have dropped off but I would argue the form of the full-back line, midfield and full-forward line are all better than the ’21 version.
I still see Kerry as the better team but the gap is narrower than what I thought was there in 2021. Worryingly, I am in no doubt that Kerry will be fired up and ready, even relishing going toe-to-toe with Tyrone.
Make no doubt about it, Kerry have the potential to hammer Tyrone. Tyrone’s performance of two weeks ago would be enough to cause a haemorrhaging of goals to challenge Laois. That’s the fear. This Kerry team is excellent and in contrast to previous encounters, have already received a bloody nose via Mayo and came back the better for it.
Are they complete? No. They still have their weaknesses like on long kick-outs or when countered against at speed. The hope hangs in Tyrone’s approach. For them to prevail they are going to have to produce one of the all-time great Tyrone performances.
Of course, it is usually a fool's errand to focus on the emotion and history around a fixture. In the vast majority of games it has no bearing on the result. Yet Kerry v Tyrone is different. It’s different because, for us in Tyrone, Kerry are different. They remain our benchmark in the game.
Dublin may have won six in a row but Kerry are the original old money. Tyrone’s game needs to be technically and tactically on point. But raw intensity is the calling card of all Tyrone’s greatest performances. It’s the rocket fuel that lifts us to a different level.
To stand a chance on Saturday that ‘Tyroneyness’ dial needs to be turned to 10. If not, Kerry will be too good. If it’s there, then folks we will have a game.
An array of talent that would make the greatest naysayers of the modern game want to watch gracing the Croke Park pitch. And all capped off with the two DC’s in full flow. Sometimes the stars align for a classic.
This has the makings of it. Tyrone it’s over to you.
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