By Niall Gartland

YOU know confidence is in high supply in the Kingdom when the cute hoor act goes out the window.

On the Sunday Game, Tomás Ó Sé – widely touted as the next Kerry manager – may as well have said that their back-to-back All-Ireland bid will be a procession. He believes that no other team are at Kerry’s level right now.

Then one of his former teammates, Darran O’Sullivan, this time speaking on Off the Ball, claimed that the vaunted Tyrone v Kerry rivalry doesn’t exist anymore and confidently predicted a Kerry victory this Saturday evening.

Another erstwhile Kerry footballer, Mike Quirke, tweeted that everyone else is playing for second place.

So there we have it. Kerry to stroll to a 40th All-Ireland title. Anyway, this sort of chatter should be music to Malachy O’Rourke’s ears. Tyrone are tipping along rightly with back-to-back wins under their belts and an extra week’s preparation for Saturday’s quarter-final joust with the Kingdom. The team is littered with All-Ireland winners, be it at senior or U20 level, they’ve little to lose (although a humbling defeat is never good), and there’s a palpable desire and will to win within the team at present – nine blocks against Mayo a fortnight ago attests to that.

Logic still points to a Kerry victory. Recall the way they steamrolled to last year’s All-Ireland with three big wins over Ulster’s leading lights. Recall their last two championship meetings with Tyrone – the 2023 All-Ireland quarter-final was a total non-event, albeit that was under previous management, and last year’s six-point margin of defeat at the semi-final juncture was arguably flattering to the Red Hands. Perhaps most pertinent of all was the way Kerry swatted aside Armagh last weekend – it was vintage stuff.

So what do Tyrone need to do? In last year’s encounter, the writing was on the wall by half-time. Kerry only led by three points, but they’d spurned a number of goal chances and the Tyrone defence was creaking on its hinges. Padraig Hampsey, who isn’t available this year, was left exposed on David Clifford – though it should also be said that Niall Devlin did a commendable job on Paudie Clifford (who doesn’t look right at the moment) while Peter Teague negated the considerable influence of Seanie O’Shea. There are plenty of others to contend with – Joe O’Connor caused untold damage rampaging through the Tyrone defence, while Dylan Geaney has been a revelation up front this year.

They’re no slouches in midfield either. Tyrone’s pairing of Conn Kilpatrick and Brian Kennedy is one of the best in the business (and maybe even the very best), but Kerry are extremely well-armed in that department – Mark O’Shea, Seán O’Brien, Joe O’Connor and Diarmuid O’Connor form a bank of four across the middle that ruled the skies against Armagh. But Tyrone have cause for optimism – they gave Kerry their fill of it from restarts in last year’s meeting. It certainly wasn’t the reason why they lost.

Kerry boss Jack O’Connor has a welcome selection headache with Gavin White and Sean O’Shea returning to fitness (both were sprung from the bench against Armagh) while All-Star goalkeeper Shane Ryan was back in the match-day panel. Stick or twist – perhaps the temptation will be to stick.

Malachy O’Rourke will have similar questions running through his head. Darren McCurry delivered a masterclass in score-taking in his 25 minutes on the pitch against Mayo, while Darragh Canavan – who was excellent against Kerry last year – came on in the closing stages after sitting out their previous match against Roscommon with a hip flexor injury.

Tyrone racked up 0-17 in last year’s meeting but that doesn’t take into account the volume of missed chances in a 21-minute period without a score in the second half (and I know we keep on harping on about that match but it’s surely instructive). During that period they struck eight wides – some bad misses, some down to bad shot selection, and some down to staunch Kerry defending, shepherding Tyrone forwards out to the wings. Viewed in that light, Tyrone had the potential to make a real game of it coming down the stretch – but from another perspective, they were lucky enough to concede only one goal down the other end of the pitch during Kerry’s sustained period of dominance in the second and third quarters.

The smart money is on the Kingdom, but it’s still a challenge that Malachy O’Rourke should relish. If you’re going to win an All-Ireland, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to beat Kerry at some stage along the way, and perhaps the extra week’s break will aid their chances. Tyrone will firmly believe that they can win – but there are so many fires to extinguish. Hopefully it’s a belter of a contest whatever transpires.