Having 38 All-Ireland titles to their name, it's perhaps no surprise that Kerry are keen to come back for more, with players Tadhg Morley and Paul Murphy stressing their intent to retain Sam Maguire.
In 2022, the Green and Gold ended an eight-year All-Ireland wait. That's a famine, an eternity in the Kingdom.
Thoughts on winning No 39 weren't from the collective minds even before the days shortened.
At times this year, we wondered about Kerry's well-being, yet there was always a view that they would time their run. There seemed to be no desire to retain their league title; Munster, as usual these days, was won in a canter. On to the round-robin and Mayo proved too sprightly down in Killarney. Wins over Cork and Louth did follow, but Kerry weren't expected to top their group.
Mayo's loss by the banks of the Lee saw them rise to the summit. Onwards to the quarter-final and their best performance of the season against Tyrone. That was emphatic. A fortnight later, Derry caused them more than a few problems; Jack O'Connor's side, on a few occasions teetered on the brink. A strong finish, with a few subs and David Clifford showing the way, saw them over the line.
And now it's the presence of the Dubs in another final on Sunday. For Tadhg Morley, a pivotal presence in the heart of the Kerry defence, thoughts of a successful defence weren't long surfacing after last year's triumph over Galway.
The Templenoe clubman told RTÉ Sport: "We parked the All-Ireland final once we went back training. We obviously celebrated it and were delighted with it last year, the relief that it brought and the satisfaction it gave the Kerry people. Once it was over we drew a line on it and we played this year like we never won it.
"That's the attitude we have to bring to the final. We're up against a Dubs teams with lads that have six, seven, eight All-Ireland medals. [But] they're playing like a team that have never won it."
Morley, while happy with the win over Derry, feels the performance won't be good enough against the Dublin "juggernaut" on Sunday.
Ciarán Whelan on the momentum that Kerry got in the closing minutes against Derry
"There was a great sense of satisfaction after grinding out that kind of result against Derry in the semi-final but we'll have to improve if we want to put it up to the Dubs," he said.
"Dublin are stacked across the field and on their bench. They've brought back so many players, even Pat Gilroy is back. There's not just one player, we have to look after all of them. We have plans in place but they are not an easy juggernaut to stop."
Also speaking to RTÉ Sport was Morley's colleague in the Kerry half-back line Paul Murphy, who after a few years getting the call off the bench is now a regular starter for the Kingdon.
He also spoke about the unquenchable thirst to be involved in Gaelic football's biggest day.
"The motivation is to get to an All-Ireland and win it and that's regardless of what happened the year before. We are the last two standing. Our motivation back in January was to try and win it and thankfully we're in a position to do that.
"It doesn't matter who the opposition is. I think from the general public, from the floating voter if you like, the non-GAA diehard, I think there is more interest in a Kerry-Dublin final. From our point of view we would approach it as if it were any other opposition."
Murphy was keen to stress how Kerry eventually got the job done against Derry, particularly after a shaky opening 35 minutes.
"Our finish to the first half is something we can improve on and how we dealt with the black card [Diarmuid O'Connor]. These are learnings we'll take forward.
"What impressed us was how well we finished the game. We got five points in the last 10 minutes and had a good impact off the bench. We had real momentum at the end."
Follow a live blog the All-Ireland Ladies Football Championships semi-finals this Saturday, Kerry v Mayo at 5pm and Dublin v Cork at 7.30pm, on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship final, Dublin v Kerry, this Sunday from 2.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio
