Incoming Kildare manager Glenn Ryan has asserted that he feels his side can match the energy of the team that reached the 1998 All-Ireland final under Mick O'Dwyer.
Ryan, who captained that '98 team, believes that the Kildare team he inherits is not all that different from Micko's side.
Glenn Ryan draws parallel between Kildare team and 1998 side
Glenn Ryan takes over the reins at Kildare after Jack O'Connor's departure for Kerry, and he spoke to RTÉ's Game On on Monday about the potential for his Lilywhites team to emulate Mick O'Dwyer's iconic team of the late 1990s.
Kildare's run to the 1998 All-Ireland final included a Leinster title - a feat they repeated in 2000. Ryan was influential during those seasons, and took All Star awards in 1997 and '98.
Now, as he prepares to take the managerial helm in his home county, Ryan sees parallels between that great Kildare side of the late 90s, and the one he inherits today.
We may have been coming from similar backgrounds. When Micko came to Kildare first, Dublin was our big stumbling block. For a number of years, Dublin was the only team that would have beaten us for a while other than Louth.
When Micko came in his second coming, our first success in that '98 year was to beat Dublin in the first round. That brought about a great relief and a great excitement among the players and the supporters.
Dublin are the stumbling block for most teams now and Kildare have been unfortunate to be in the same province as them for the last number of years. But it's also a good opportunity to get yourself to a level and get yourself to a bar to try and beat Dublin when the opportunity arrives.
We'll be doing our best to try and do that, but there will be plenty of other teams chomping at the bit as well. If Mayo showed anything this year, it's that there may be another chink in the armour, and all teams in Leinster will be trying to find that.
27 September 1998; President of Ireland Mary McAleese is introduced to Kildare captain Glenn Ryan by Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Joe McDonagh before the Bank of Ireland All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final match between Kildare and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
It hasn't been an enjoyable few years for Kildare in Leinster, with an ongoing wait for the provincial crown extended to 21 years last season. In three of the last five seasons, it has been the dreaded Dubs who have ended their Leinster dreams.
For Lilywhites fans, the hope will be for improved results at provincial level, before a push to return to the dizzying heights of 1998.
Whether Glenn Ryan can deliver that remains to be seen, but he has certainly set the bar high for him and his team.
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