Throughout the season, teams committed to a personal and collective level of excellence and next Sunday brings it all to a close. How well have they prepared? We get to see it all come to the fore.
Archery is one of the oldest arts. Initially, it was a technique for hunting and later for warfare. Nowadays Olympic athletes aim at a 122 centimetre diameter target 72 metres away. As in Gaelic football, pressure is high and margins are slim.
If you listen to them speak, archers often say that they feel most accurate when they are not too intentional in the critical moments. They pull back the bowstring, creating tension to fire the arrow with precision. The pull-back and release of the string is not forced – it falls away from their fingertips.
My sense is that a team’s readiness is best judged on two main aspects – pattern and feel. Patterns are the routines players form based from experience. Some will generate value from having an intense build-up to games, others will be asleep coming down Clonliffe Road on the bus. Some will cocoon themselves from areas like social media, others will engage.
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Everyone will get there in a way that makes sense for them and the team. That’s what you want in a highly functioning unit – diversity and individualism.
Players will have received detailed expert support on and off the pitch in the last few months. There is very little they won’t have had exposure to at this point. Performance psychology to manage in-game stress. Sleep habits down to the optimal room temperature required. Hydration to the centilitre. Even what shin angle they need to generate maximum running speed. They’ve consumed so much potential value.
For example, with physical and mental recovery. What if a player consistently went to bed 30 minutes earlier each night over a week period? Over the past seven months, that will have amounted to roughly an extra 12 nights of sleep over a competitor until this point.
In addition, both finalists will have formed routines and invested in the importance of a group’s connection. Understanding each person at a deeper level. As a group of friends, doing what brings them joy, in the same tribe.
Both Dublin and Kerry possess levels of experience that will play a big part in the build-up to the game. They will know that this past week several administrative aspects get ticked off the list – media days, ticket orders and distribution, post-game logistics. Part of the build-up but a potential distraction too. By now all packed away. All routine.
As the final looms closer the reality is that players will now be trading off the deep reservoir of substance consciously gathered. Which brings me on to feel. What players see and how they then make rapid decisions subconsciously. Like Yogi Berra said – you can’t bat and think at the same time.
Going in to the final you can push and twist the narrative to suit in all ways. What way the game will unfold exactly is a guess. We do know the story to date, which provides some trends. There is the momentum of the teams, key players’ form, data from defensive and offensive kick-outs telling a version of the story.
Do both teams go in happy they got through their semi-final underperforming, slightly dampening expectations? Or does it impact the momentum each thought they had originally? Both teams will be confident they have much more consistency to offer. Needless to say, now it must come out.
Key Dublin and Kerry players weren’t allowed to play as well in each of their semi-finals. For example, Dublin’s Colm Basquel was taken off and Kerry’s Diarmuid O’Connor was black carded. Both not as prominent as they’d want. Considering the form both were hitting up to then, can they catch their form in the final?
On kick-outs, in the semi-final, Monaghan forced Stephen Cluxton to kick 14 of his 18 kickouts to his left. As a left-footed goalkeeper, that’s a slightly more challenging kick. It will be very interesting to see how Kerry set up as a consequence.
Normally, Kerry are aggressive in how they press up against Dublin kick-outs. They could try to entice Stephen to go to his right, setting up traps for turnovers. Sometimes with as many as 12 bodies in Dublin’s half.
It’s risky ploy. If a Dublin player breaks that net just once, they have pace and players over the top to punish anyone badly. The first kick-out will tell you a lot about the mindset Kerry have. Do they go all out for it? Or do they sit slightly off like they did versus Tyrone to control the pace in a smaller pitch?
Offensively, Dublin had a 75 per cent shot conversion rate in their last game against Monaghan. A decent number. Dig a little deeper – they had eight scorers, with Cormac Costello responsible for 38 per cent of their total (0-7).
For Kerry, their conversation was lower at 64 per cent and a total of seven scorers. With David Clifford, putting up 50 per cent of their total (0-9 points). Dublin might appear to be going in with more offensive confidence collectively. Is it Kerry or Dublin that will feel they can get more from the offensive power they know they have?
Like the archer, I feel the real key will be in the high-pressure moments. For example, if it’s a close game after 60 minutes. It’s not something you necessarily pursue, it’s setting it up in ways to ensue. Take a scenario of when you are trying to prevent a score at a draw game. Here it’s simply sticking to what you have been doing – communicate often and clearly, know where the danger is and be patient in the contact area.
That’s what both sets of players will be circling back to this week. Allowing it to happen naturally. All players are supremely competent. Trusting the feel and the process for each phase as it comes.
Nearly 15 years ago to the day on July 26th, 2008, Mick Fitzsimons played on a Dublin Junior team that won the All-Ireland in Portlaoise. Last weekend in Croke Park New York had a famous similar All-Ireland Junior win.
Frank Sinatra’s My Way blew the roof off Croke Park at the final whistle. A profound thank you to Mick, all the players, the two squads, managements, and the match officials for all their commitment.
Like Sinatra says in his last line of the song. ‘Let the record show I took all the blows and did it my way.’
And they will.
**This week we said goodbye to a great friend and GAA man in Jimmy Gavin, father of Jim. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam.
