Gerard O’Kane: Experts after the fact…

Sure with hindsight we are all experts after the fact. Looking back at the game on Sunday, and then looking at the majority of predictions that went before it, most of the pundits and commentary favoured Donegal.

Yours truly was on the record last Wednesday and tipped Donegal marginally by one or two points. However, at risk of covering myself and sitting on the fence, I did say that I could wake up on Thursday morning and if someone said to me that Kerry would be victorious and give me a solid argument for it then I would have no hesitation in plumping for the Kingdom.

It really was paper thin and to be honest I was basing my prediction on what Donegal had in reserve on the bench and what they had along the sideline in Jim McGuinness.

Now that we have had a few days to analyse it, all of the ‘I told ye so’ brigade have been fairly vocal, but I don’t think anyone would have predicted the 10-point hammering handed out to Donegal in the final.

Even looking at the form lines on the way to the final, where Kerry had beaten Tyrone and Armagh fairly comfortably, Donegal had won their respective quarter-finals and semi-finals by a combined total of 30 points.

I don’t think there was a complete dismissal of Kerry either. Any predictions favouring Donegal were done so marginally and all with a ‘however don’t be surprised if Kerry win’ tone.

It does seem a bit silly now as the players are the ones on the pitch, making the runs, dishing out the hits and taking the scores, but the deciding factor for me beforehand was McGuinness. That might sound disrespectful to eight-time All-Ireland senior finalist and five-time winner Jack O’Connor and looking back on it now, that’s the one part of my prediction I sort of cringe at.

McGuinness just seems to have an aura about him and maybe it’s because we are closer to it here up in the north-west we might be more conscious of it, and because O’Connor is based 300-plus miles away, there doesn’t seem to be the same ‘gra’ for him.

I think all that can be put to bed now. O’Connor’s record over his three terms in Kerry at senior level stands up there with the top four or five managers in the game. I know people will say sure Kerry start out as one of the favourites each year, but O’Connor had to reinvent himself to ensure he has changed with the times since his first stint in the mid-2000s.

In more recent times, he has taken decisions to freshen up his backroom team and this year alone he was navigating through choppy waters with several key personnel all missing at different times of the year while getting some below par performances but still, he managed them to a treble of a league, provincial and All-Ireland Championship.

Back to the actual football and the players themselves, Kerry were undoubtedly deserving winners on the day.

Donegal seemed to be missing something on Sunday which they had all year. There just did not seem to have that same energy level that they possessed in the previous games, that ravenous hunger which they possess in their ferocious tacking and then their ability to break at pace up the filed.

The loss of Ciarán Thompson early on was a blow and then the loss of Ryan McHugh early in the second half was also an issue, but overall they just did not seem to be at the required level.

It’s difficult to look at this in isolation as purely a Donegal issue, you cannot underestimate what Kerry brought to the table.

Their start epitomised everything that was good about them and set the tone for the remainder of the game. A point after 14 seconds surely must be up there with one of the quickest scores ever in an All-Ireland final, but it was more the intent and purpose with which it was done.

Had the execution been off it would not have been a massive deal but the driving run onto the breaking ball from Gavin White and his refusal to turn sideways or backwards was a message. At that stage a lot of teams might keep the ball for over a minute, shuffle it around and give everyone a touch of the ball just to settle in but Kerry let their intentions be known from early on.

That’s not to say that Kerry only know one way of playing. If you do want to slow it down and play keep ball and be patient in the build-up, no better team than Kerry given the natural ball players they have at their disposal. They are just so adept at mixing it up in game which is so hard to tie down.

I would have no doubt that Donegal would have been meticulous in their planning and plotted for all scenarios but planning and execution are two different things and some days you just some up against a better opponent and I think Donegal have been fairly gracious in acknowledging that.

All in all, the later knockout stages of the championship probably did not live up to the hype.

It depends on your preference; you might like watching a display of more open and free-flowing football, as we had on Sunday past, with the result probably determined from a bit out or the low scoring, more turgid affair of last year that was not decided until the final whistle as Armagh triumphed.

As an overall view, I think the football championship has been better this year than it was in the past few years, and while this does not work for everyone, figures will tell you attendances are up so that’s a really positive sign for the state of the game.

One lesson learned for 2026 is write off Kerry at your peril.