A couple of years ago, Darragh Ó Sé wondered what Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton had to do in order to win a man of the match award.
It came off the back the back of another hugely influential display, this time Tyrone falling to his powers in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final.
At the same stage 12 months previous, he endured a rare wobble when Kerry managed to, for a brief period, rattle his cage. As Cahair O'Kane outlined in detail recently, Eamonn Fitzmaurice spent weeks hatching a plan to lure Cluxton into a trap from his trusty restarts and it worked a treat.
The 12-man press allowed Paul Geaney to feed Darran O'Sullivan and he found the back of the net.
"It gave us such a lift, it was worth more than the three points," he tells RTÉ Sport. "It justified the effort and gives you more belief."
O'Sullivan scores against Dublin in the 2016 All-Ireland football semi-final
The momentum swung and Cluxton's following restart was duly kicked out of play. Dublin ultimately prevailed, but there was hope for the chasing pack, a small window of opportunity.
Tyrone took their place in the 2017 semi-final fully confident of upsetting the Dublin gameplan and there were even mild whispers of an upset.
In the second minute of the contest, Seán Cavanagh bisected the Hill 16 posts with a free and nine Tyrone players immediately pushed into the attacking half looking to put the squeeze on the Dublin play-maker.
The result? As cool as you like, the team captain found Niall Scully on the run with a laser-like kick of 70-odd metres, Tyrone's high press reduced to helpless by-standers.
"You've scored the first point of the game. You've gone bull-headed for Cluxton's kick-out, daring him to make a mistake. And he's basically laughed at you," Ó Sé wrote at the time.
Cluxton made his Dublin debut before current team-mate Brian Howard began primary school, and despite six All-Irelands, five All-Stars, more than a century of championship appearances and single-handedly changing how we view goalkeepers and indeed possession in Gaelic football, he is to be the best of our knowledge yet to claim a man of the match accolade.
Not that you'd imagine the Parnell's man is unduly bothered by the snub.
Restarts - more than a numbers game
He may only have two years of inter-county experience under his belt, but Shaun Patton is already considered one of the best goalkeepers in the business.
The former Sligo Rovers man has slotted in seamlessly between the sticks where his composure, shot-stopping and accurate kicking have caught the eye.
By his own admission his stats have improved "significantly" this year.
Of 113 restarts over the course of the championship he enjoyed more than a 90% success rate and never coughed up more than four in a single game.
What the stats can't show is the greater level of trust in his team-mates to make runs and the 24-year-old is strongly of the opinion restarts can be over-complicated.
"Pre-rehearsed can go wrong because if you can't get them away, you can get yourself into a bit of bother. You don't know where the Plan B is, whereas if you have a pre-rehearsed kickout in the back of your locker for when things aren't going your way you can go to, rather than for every kickout.
"The players will get the ball if they make the right runs. I find the simpler the better. I haven't spoken to other goalkeepers about it, but I suspect they would be the same."
Stephen Cluxton's deadly accuracy has changed the perception of the role of GAA goalkeepers.
Stephen Cluxton
The standard bearer of the modern goalkeeper.
With Dublin exerting such dominance in recent years, has had less to do in terms of shot-stopping, illustrated by the fact the last of his five All Stars was collected was in 2015.
His match-winning kick against Kerry in the 2011 decider will go down as one of the iconic GAA moments and approaching his 38th birthday, Cluxton appears as hungry and effective as ever.
Shane Ryan
Kerry team-mate Paul Murphy described Shane Ryan as a "reluctant" goalkeeper earlier this season. His Rathmore team-mate plays in the full-forward line for his club, but since his Kerry minor days, has been entrusted between the sticks.
Manager Peter Keane has put his faith in Ryan and the 6ft 2" net-minder has made the number one jersey his own. He has lived life on the edge on a few occasions but is a confident character and growing into the role. A current kickout success rate of 76% will need to improve if Kerry are to stand a realistic chance of toppling the Dubs.
Goalkeeper Shane Ryan is one of two Rathmore players on the Kerry team along with Paul Murphy
Dublin Strengths
The restart strategy is a well-oiled machine for Dublin. As Malachy O'Rourke has seen first hand during his time in charge of Monaghan, applying pressure out the field or closer to goal more often than not fails to ruffle Cluxton's feathers.
"It's the sheer power and athleticism. When Dublin get on top there [restarts], they have such strong runners and are ruthless and economical with the ball."
At the other end of the pitch, Gavin's men have repeatedly reaped the benefits of applying a high press on the opposition kickout.
Dublin picked off short kick-outs against Cork, Roscommon and Mayo that directly impacted on the scoreboard, with Mayo in particular suffering on their own restarts during that jaw-dropping 12 minute semi-final scoring blitz.
Cork goalkeeper Mark White's first outing against the Dubs in July resulted in him picking the ball out of his net on five occasions and having also faced Kerry in the Munster final, he noticed one point of differentiation between the sides.
"Kerry pushed up on me when the ball went dead, whereas Dublin pressed up for every kickout. I was very surprised at how high they pushed up. It was clear they have huge faith in their half-forwards and midfield to win their own ball."
Kerry Strengths
For a goalkeeper in his first full season as number one choice, the presence of some serious ball winners out the field is a fillip for Shane Ryan.
David Moran has sparkled all summer, most notably his tour de force against Mayo in Killarney, while Adrian Spillane has looked at times the ideal foil to the marauding midfield partner. Jack Barry meanwhile has shown his ability to mix it with Dublin in the past despite limited game time in recent months.
Stephen O'Brien's foraging around breaking ball is crucial in feeding the potent full-forward line, while Jack Sherwood and Tommy Walsh provide further options around the middle third battleground.
The presence of Donie Buckley, who was involved with Mayo when they slugged it out with Dublin in the past, is a crucial component of the Kingdom backroom team.
The ploy for Darran O'Sullivan's goal three years ago was based on an aggressive blitz at the opportune moment, though O'Rourke can't see a repeat trick this time around.
"Kerry lured them into a trap. I think if Cluxton is more unsure now, he'd be more inclined to go long and they have a lot of bodies out there who are strong in the air."
The flipside to inexperience is that being youthful also has its clear advantages.
O'Sullivan expects Peter Keane to exploit the high energy levels in the forward line with a two-pronged approach.
"There's more pace in this Kerry team than there was a couple of years ago. That allows you to be more aggressive with it.
"If the keeper goes long, we have more pace in the team to get back to try and snuff out the danger."
The average age of the starting Kerry forwards against Tyrone was just under 24, more than a year younger than the Dublin sextet that terrorised Mayo the following day.
Dublin Weakness
When assessing a team looking to claim a fifth successive Sam Maguire with arguably the greatest goalkeeper of the lot, the term weakness is probably a stretch.
There have however been moments where they have looked fallible, but generally speaking these have been fleeting, rather than over a sustained period.
The first couple of kickouts are crucial if Kerry are to possibly inflict any seeds of doubt on the Dublin restart.
"We have often done well on Cluxton before. All it takes is one to go wrong," says O'Sullivan.
"If you don't get the first one or two off, it changes things. You have to push at the start and give him a decision to make. If he goes long or short and it doesn't work out, that's where you sow the seed of doubt.
"You must make him question himself, make him take a second longer than he'd want to."
Brian Fenton climbs highest to claim a Mayo kickout during the All-Ireland semi-final
The Dubs are, statistically speaking, not as dominant on kickouts past the 45m line as many suspect. According to numbers crunched by Don't Foul, they have won 64% of their own long kickouts and enjoy 43% success rate on the opposition.
Against Mayo they lost more long kickouts than they won.
Kerry Weakness
It has been a topsy-turvy couple of years for Kerry in the goalkeeping department. Last year's captain Shane Murphy is no longer part of the panel while 2017 saw Brendan Kealy and Brian Kelly rotated in and out of the side.
Now Ryan is in situ and, naturally enough in his first campaign at this level, there have been a few jitters.
The Rathmore man has gone short (55%) more often in the championship than his opposite number this year (46%), but there have been a few nervy moments.
Ryan has coughed up seven short restarts since the Super 8s – seven more than Cluxton – and Dublin will eager to put the callow keeper under pressure from the start.
At the other end, for all their undoubted ability in splitting the posts, whether David Clifford and Paul Geaney can offer themselves as willing runners off the ball to track Dublin players as well as remain focal points in the inside line remains to be seen.
Cork's Brian Hurley gets a touch of the ball before Shane Ryan to score a goal in the Munster final
What will unfold?
Against Donegal in the drawn Super 8s encounter, the Kingdom began both halves with a high press but Patton was able to successfully negotiate the Kerry obstacles and find his target downfield. The response from the green and gold was to retreat and effectively concede the short kickouts, but Patton feels a repeat on Sunday could be curtains for the underdogs.
"I think they have to push up or Dublin will run over the top of them. It would be different if Dublin didn't have the legs, but dropping off is just too dangerous."
O'Rourke adds that as much as Kerry will want to contest the restarts, how they set-up when they lose it is every bit as important, with Mayo's exposure when Dublin won their kickouts after the break a cautionary tale.
How Shane Ryan reacts and thinks on his feet will go a long way to dictating whether Kerry will mount a serious bid to derail the five in a row.
"If Dublin go zonally," O'Rourke says, "it is about looking for small pockets of space where the ball can be chipped into.
"On the longer kickouts, Dublin normally have four players spread across the middle, so it's about having a plan there to give them a better chance rather than hitting in hope."
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