Last year's Kerry captain Darragh Ó Sé has been unable to shake off the foot injury he picked up a week ago and will miss Sunday's Munster football final against Limerick in Killarney. The news comes as a disappointment to Kerry, but had been expected.
Manager Páidí Ó Sé and his selectors opt to replace their All Star centrefielder with Eoin Brosnan from the Dr Croke's club, who usually lines out at centre forward. Experienced centrefielder Donal Daly is left on the bench.
The move is perhaps intended to cope with the athleticism and mobility of their opponents' centrefield.
With John Quane - as influential for Limerick as Ó Sé is for Kerry - also out with injury, Jason Stokes has been selected to partner John Galvin, a choice that adds to the mobility of Limerick's pairing.
Yet, Kerry's centrefield is the same as the one that started last year against Limerick. Back then, Quane and Galvin gave Kerry so much trouble in the middle that Ó Sé, who was also injured for that match, had to come off the bench to restore order.
Darragh Ó Sé's brother Marc - who played corner back last season - comes into the team on the left wing of the defence with John Sheehan dropping back to the replacements.
There are two changes in attack. This year's captain Declan Quill also drops out to be replaced by Dara Ó Cínnéide and in a straight swap Michael Francis Russell returns to the starting 15 in place of John Crowley.
Quill has been troubled by injury, but is still named on the bench. In his absence and that of any of his Kerins O'Rahilly's clubmates, Michael McCarthy of Kilcummin takes the captaincy.
Also of significance is Séamus Moynihan's return to full back. He started the semi-final defeat of Tipperary at centre back in an apparent expression of the management's desire to see him deployed in a more central role in order to make better use of his creativity.
Eamonn Fitzmaurice moved back to centre back, but was switched after 10 minutes with McCarthy, who had a good record marking Tipperary's Declan Browne, one of the game's most lethal forwards.
For the weekend, Moynihan and Fitzmaurice are swapped back to the positions they filled when Kerry last won the AllIreland three years ago.
The weekend will be the first meeting of the counties in a provincial final since 1991.
That match was also played in Killarney and current Kerry coach and selector John O'Keeffe was manager of Limerick that day.
It turned out to be a very close match with the outsiders scoring three goals and former county hurler Danny Fitzgerald causing havoc at full forward.
Eventually, Kerry won by two points, 0-23 to 3-12.
A year later, although Limerick lost by three points, they came even closer to victory at the Gaelic Grounds, bombarding Kerry in the closing stages, but not able to find a way through.
A few weeks later, Kerry suffered a sensational defeat by Clare in the Munster final.
Kerry (SF v Limerick)
D O'Keeffe
T O'Sullivan, S Moynihan, M McCarthy
T Ó Sé, E Fitzmaurice, M Ó Sé
S Scanlon, E Brosnan
L Hassett, D Ó Cínnéide, S O'Sullivan
C Cooper, D O'Sullivan, MF Russell
Subs: D Murphy, J Sheehan, J Crowley, D Quill, A MacGearailt, D O'Mahony, P Galvin, P Kennedy, J Cahalane, D Daly.
KERRY (MF v Cork): B Kelly; M Curran, L Quinn, P Reidy; C Kelliher, S O'Sullivan, J McGillacuddy; D Breen, B Moran;M Murphy, B O'Grady, M Bowler; K O'Sullivan, B Sheehan, D Geaney.
