Kerry have experienced a mix start to the year.
On the back of an all-conquering 2022 in which they won every competition available them, it was always going to maintain those performance levels in this campaign. Considering this, it perhaps should not come as a surprise that they have underperformed in the league up to this point.
Jack O'Connor's side have lost three of their five fixtures in Division One and are in the relegation mix over the next couple of weeks. Most people expect them to avoid going down, while it will also be anticipated that they will up their performance levels quite a bit by the time championship comes around.
However, getting out of such a rut isn't always easy.
Peter Canavan warns Kerry of Tyrone repeat
Tyrone won the All-Ireland in 2021, but went on to have a poor year by their standards in 2022. They struggled in the league, and while it was presumed they would kick into gear in the championship, it never really happened.
Peter Canavan has warned Kerry about experiencing a similar fate this season.
Speaking to RTÉ's Game On, the Tyrone legend said Kerry need only look at his native county last season to see that there are no guarantees in championship despite their status as All-Ireland champions.
It’s a difficult one because a lot of people will be saying that they’ve got time on their hands.
[They’ll say] they’ll get to the Munster final and there’s a good chance they’ll win Munster so they’ll be seeded number one in their group for the round robin and that’s when the real Kerry will stand up.
The danger is a wee bit like Tyrone last year. After they won it, everyone was saying exactly the same thing – they have plenty of time and it’ll come. It didn’t.
I still believe that the quality is there, they have another couple of players to get back into the fold and it is the start of March after all.
I know Jack O’Connor was concerned, he wasn’t that happy with how the game panned out. Of course he sets his team out to win – maybe a wee bit disappointed that he’s not getting more out of the fringe players... but I certainly wouldn't be writing them off, definitely not.
You would expect Kerry to get over their current blip, with the squad possessing far too much talent to perform at a poor level for an experienced period of time.
In saying that, it can be difficult to match the standards that are set during an All-Ireland winning campaign the year previous. Jack O'Connor will be hoping that his side can avoid the fate that befell Tyrone in 2022.
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