Match-ups and restarts - Kerry and Tyrone key battles for Croke Park showdown

RTÉ News​

3 days ago

Should Kerry make as many inroads on the Tyrone kickout as they did on the Armagh restarts last time out, it could lay the foundation for victory in Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final.
That's the view of former Kerry player Tomás Ó Sé, who says the aggressive approach from Jack O'Connor's men was the foundation block in dethroning the All-Ireland champions at the quarter-final stage.
In the opening 35 minutes, Kerry won four of Ethan Rafferty's long kickouts (kicks that went beyond the 45m), while in that dominant 15-minute period after the resumption where the Kingdom hit 14 points unanswered, it was better again as they claimed nine of Rafferty's 11-long restarts.
In Niall Morgan, Tyrone possess one of the biggest, and accurate boots in Gaelic football. Should Kerry once again adopt a high press, he has the artillery to clear a large swathe of players.
"The problem with that is that Kerry will have bodies out there as well," Ó Sé told the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"If he booms it long, Tyrone have to win it. If they do win it, and spook Kerry a couple of times, then Kerry mightn't get as aggressive with the press."
Ciarán Whelan, also speaking on the podcast, is fully expecting Tyrone to differ from Armagh in adopting a man-to-man marking approach to try and snuff out the danger of the Clifford brothers, Paudie and David, as well as the in-form Seán O'Shea.
Paudie Hampsey has picked up three-time Footballer of the Year Clifford in the past, while if he has a clean bill of health, Conor Meyler could be tasked with following the older of the Clifford siblings.
All four of Tyrone's All-Ireland victories saw Kerry defeated along the way and Whelan feels the Red Hand be full of motivation to take out the Munster champions.
"Tyrone didn't perform massively well against Dublin, but they beat them," he said. "I think they will approach the game in a different way defensively, a more man-to-man approach.
"Tyrone are going to improve and they will relish this opportunity to try and stifle that Kerry narrative."
Despite the changes in defensive strategies, Ó Sé insists that traditional approach is something that Tyrone have mastered.
"If you are going man-for-man, they are going to have to be very tuned in, but that's what Tyrone have been brilliant at over the last few years."