What have Kerry found?

Kieran Donaghy for one; already his decision to quit hoops for the year has been justified. If there was a league All Star team Darragh O Se would be a shoo-in. Going on this past month, Seamus Moynihan looks like there's one big last kick in him. Bryan Sheehan may be a worthy successor to Dara O Cinneide as long-range freetaker.

Eamonn Fitzmaurice has showcased just how good a foot-passer of the ball he can be.

And yet. Donaghy's upper body may still need another year to withstand the hits and intensity of summer football.

O Se was flying in '03 before he broke down in the summer; ditto Moynihan in '04.

Eoin Brosnan has lost his form. Mike Frank only found a hint of his with the club last week. Brosnan's exclusion and Fitzmaurice's inclusion means the half-forward line lacks pace. Declan O'Sullivan continues to take too much out of the ball. O Cinneide and Liam Hassett are retired.

Truth is Kerry were motoring better this time last year when they didn't make the semi than they are now. Forget Laois . . . Dublin were the Leinster side for Kerry to measure up to this past month. Kerry only drew that day. They lost to Tyrone and Mayo. Last year they beat all three of those teams. Win here and that fact will be rightly overlooked. Lose here and that fact will be rightly magnified. It's that big a game and gauge for them.

Ditto for Galway. In so many ways they're similar to the Clare hurlers. For all the league finals they've been in (for Galway, read '01 and '04, with Clare, read '95, '01 and '05), their vets still haven't the medal to show for it, the one thing missing on their CVs.

They want the scalp, to prove to themselves and to everyone else that this summer there could be a Big Four.

As a rule for the past six years Galway always beat Kerry outside of Croke Park, but never beat them in the final stages of a national competition. Today we have the final of a national competition, outside of Croke Park. Something has to give.

Our advice? Put money on Galway; somehow they're 15/8 to win. Galway. Though Kerry have superior aerial prowess at midfield, Galway, like Tyrone in last year's All Ireland, have more scoring power. While Jack O'Connor has now qualified for six out of seven possible major finals, our hunch is he'll lose a second one.

KERRY D Murphy; A O'Mahony, M O Se, T O'Sullivan; T O Se, S Moynihan, M Lyons; D O Se, K Donaghy; P Galvin, E Fitzmaurice, B Sheehan; C Cooper, D O'Sullivan; R O'Connor

GALWAY A Keane; D Meehan, K Fitzgerald, D Burke; A Burke, D Blake, M Comer; P Clancy, N Coleman; M Clancy, D Savage, M Donnellan; M Meehan, P Joyce, S Armstrong

NFL DIVISION ONE FINAL KERRY v GALWAY Gaelic Grounds, Limerick, 5.30 Referee E Murtagh (Longford) Live, TG4, 5.10