Johnny Crowley believes Kerry will receive their first proper stress test of the 2024 championship at Croke Park this Sunday.
The Kingdom have progressed to the quarter-final stages of the All-Ireland without having to crank up through the gears at any stage, winning all three of their round-robin games by double digits, finishing the group with a scoring difference of +39.
The concern is that Jack O’Connor’s men will be undercooked for Sunday’s clash against a Derry side entering the fixture on the back of a morale-boosting penalty shoot-out win over Mayo last weekend. But Crowley is hopeful Kerry have timed their run to hit form when they land at GAA headquarters.
“I think Kerry will turn up,” says the three-time All-Ireland winner. “I think Kerry are in a good place and have answered all the questions that they should have answered. Having said that, this is going to be a massive step up.
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“In fairness to Kerry, they haven’t been shooting out the lights as such but they were very competent against Louth, they got the job done against Cork and Clare. You couldn’t fault them in the way they have gone about their business, they haven’t done anything wrong but you won’t know until the real pressure comes on how fellas are really going.
“Derry, you would have to think, will come in with quiet confidence. I know they hit the wall a few weeks ago but it happened Kerry in 2009, so we’d be very wary of this.
“Mickey Harte is a master of these scenarios, he’s been through it all so many times so you definitely wouldn’t be putting all your money on Kerry this weekend.”
The sides met in Tralee on the opening weekend of the league at the end of January, with Derry edging that result by a single point. They also met in an All-Ireland semi-final last year, which Kerry won by two points after a late rally.
If they are to lift Sam Maguire next month, Kerry will probably need more scoring power from the supporting cast to help Seán O’Shea, David Clifford and Paudie Clifford.
And Crowley, an All Star forward in 2001, reckons Sunday’s quarter-final might provide the likes of Tony Brosnan with the perfect stage to shine.
“I do feel Tony is a real plus in the half-forward line because he’s a really good creator and Tony has been knocking around now for a few years so he does have experience,” says Crowley. “I’d be looking to the likes of him next weekend to knock over two or three points. He probably won’t feature as much as the three other boys in Derry’s analysis so that should be a big advantage.
“Brian Ó Beaglaoich has come back from a long-term injury and is playing really well also. They’re two big pluses. Brian has popped up with scores, as has Tom O’Sullivan.
“I wouldn’t be overly concerned but you’d like to see the other forwards chipping in with one or two scores just to take the heat off the three boys.”
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