Where will Sam spend the winter?

Kieran Duffy

(Monaghan)

WHEN you take a look at the record books, Kerry and Dublin is the biggest fixture in town no matter what way you look at it. Unfortunately for us we came out the wrong side of our semi-final, but from a neutral point of view, Kerry and Dublin are the big names down through the years.

That probably brings plenty of excitement for the neutral and obviously in Kerry and Dublin as well so I’m sure everyone is looking forward to the game on Sunday. With the two of them in the final, you have to say they’re the best teams in the country.

There’s no doubting that and I think everyone will agree that David Clifford is a genuine game-winer, he’s an exceptional talent and he’s going to be the one that leads the way for Kerry.

In airness to Dublin, they’ll back themselves with the personnel they have up in their forward line and Kerry will back themselves with their forwards as well so it’s going to be very interesting in terms of how both teams will set up.

I think they’re both going to set up quite similarly in the sense that there could be one man falling back playing the sweeper role on both sides. I think it’s going to be relatively open, and I think there’s going to be scores in the game with the players that are going to be on show. I’d just give Kerry the edge. I feel it’s going to be tight, and Dublin’s bench could still have a huge say. It’s going to be tit for tat the whole way through. It’ll be very tight at half time but whoever comes out that third period t strongest will probably prevail.

Verdict: Kerry

Michael Byrne

(Antrim)

I THINK when you look at the talent that is going to be out on the pitch on Sunday, it’s hard to look past the two of them as being the best two teams in the country. Both sides are incredible, though obviously the two Ulster sides (Monaghan and Derry) ran them close.

But I do think there’s a slight gap between the two and the rest of the country. That killer instinct that the two teams have just to see themselves over the line. The semi-finals were tight throughout but they both ended in a similar fashion.

When both games got to the last ten minutes, the real crunch time, Dublin and Kerry just really seemed to kick into gear and that saw them through to the final.

Just look at the talent that they have. David Clifford, his talent speaks for itself. Then on the other side you obviously have the likes of Con O’Callaghan who can do just as much as Clifford but maybe doesn’t always get the same credit.

Then you have the likes of Seanie O’Shea who can step up and do something incredible at the end of the game. On the other end you have Ciaran Kilkenny and fellas like that that can do it as well.

I think it’s going to be hard to pinpoint a player that is really going to change the game because there’s so much talent on the pitch. I think Dublin would prefer it to be a wee bit more cagey just because of Kerry’s forward line. But I hope it’s going to be a real shootout and it’s the kind of football that everyone would prefer to see. For me, I think Kerry will just edge it. When you look at how they play, they can play that cagey style of football and obviously they can play about freer, and I think Kerry just have that wee bit too much.

Verdict: Kerry

Niall Kane

(Down)

IT’S hard to argue that Dublin and Kerry aren’t the two best teams given their semi-finals. I honestly thought Derry were going to do it, I had them fancied and they’re not too far away from the top two. But at this present time, Dublin and Kerry are the two best.

I think Dublin’s bench will make the big difference on Sunday. It’s going to be back to the time of (Kevin) McManamon in the sense it’s going to be somebody off the Dublin bench that is going to make a real impact.

They can take the likes of Ciaran Kilkenny off the bench, which is absolute madness when you think about it. I just think somebody from that Dublin bench could make a huge impact and that’s going to be the winning and losing of the game.

It’s hard to know what kind of game that it’s going to be. I feel it’ll probably be a shootout between them. The two of them will probably go out and really go for it and hope they both do that and that it’s a really entertaining game.

I genuinely do believe that they will both really go for it. I don’t know what that’ll lead to, my heart says Kerry, but my head says Dublin, but I think it’ll be Dublin that come through in the end.

As I said, it’s the Dublin bench that could end up being the big difference between the teams and I think it’s going to be the thing that wins the game for them.

Verdict: Dublin

Jemar Hall

(Armagh)

I THINK those two teams have the experience of getting over the line and getting past them semi-finals and that was obviously a big help to them. But Monaghan and Derry, they ran them close to the wire.

It was just that last ten minutes, it was the small things like kickouts and maybe kicking balls away at vital times that really let them down, but they’ll learn from that experience, and I’d imagine they’ll come back big and better next year.

You see the experience that the Dubs have coming off the bench, it’s incredible. They have Ciaran Kilkenny, Dean Rock, they have Jack McCaffre. Those boys all have seven All-Ireland medals apiece and you just can’t buy that experience.

That’s an unbelievable amount of quality to be able to bring off the bench and you can’t stop that. Obviously, Kerry have (David) Clifford, but I think Cormac Costello has been in flying form for Dublin, he’s sharp inside.

The likes of McCaffrey coming off the bench, he’s getting big scores in the last couple of minutes so I think maybe Jack McCaffrey or even Cormac Costello in the full-forward line could be the game winners.

With the bench that Dublin have, I think they’ll win by two points. They’ll also believe that if if they can stop Clifford, even hold him to six or seven points, the job will be half done.

Things will open up in the last 25 minutes or so. The boys coming off the bench with the fresh legs and that big of experience will inject that pace and it’ll open up and I think Dublin will have enough to get over the line.

Verdict: Dublin