GAELIC GAMES/All-Ireland SFC Final/Interview with Eamon Fitzmaurice: It's the central question and we can be sure Eamon Fitzmaurice hasn't waited until the Kerry media night to hear it asked. As centre back and defensive anchor, he will be facing Mayo's inspiration, Ciarán McDonald, who so far has been at the heart of his team's best moments.

"Throughout the summer so far he's been putting in player-of-the-year performances," says Fitzmaurice.

"They're the challenges you want, though. He's up there to be knocked down and I'm hopeful I can do a job but I'll have to be on top of my game. I won't have met a tougher opponent all year."

Fitzmaurice has been at the heart of the Kerry defence for more than six years. He shares the same playing pedigree as many of his colleagues, having won All-Ireland under-21 medals in 1996 and '98.

He also enjoyed a good spell with UCC, as a member of the Kerry-dominated side (UCK as it was humorously known) that won a Cork and Munster club championship before going down to champions Crossmaglen Rangers in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Versatile enough to have won one of his under-21 medals at centrefield, the Finuge schoolteacher tends to a conservative reading of the centre-back role, playing deep to defend the centre and sometimes allowing his man a bit much space, an indulgence McDonald would certainly punish.

But, as he discusses the demands of the position, it's clear that he doesn't see his role as simple as that.

"We would usually discuss a particular centre forward and his style of play. A Ciarán McDonald will go down the field to link up and come back and try to set everything in motion.

"A different player might go deep to create space and expose the full-back line. In that case I'd probably stay back.

"The modern game is so fast and Croke Park so big you can be redundant really if you're trying to hold the middle. Obviously you've a certain responsibility towards the middle but if you're over-concerned about it, you can get caught, especially if you're playing in a team that's attack-minded like Kerry.

"If you're playing with an Armagh or Tyrone where bodies tend to filter back you might be able to sit back a bit but with Kerry you could be falling back and with Croke Park so big, find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kerry's change of management has resulted in a fresh approach to training, under Pat Flanagan, and Fitzmaurice says that for bigger members of the panel like himself, preparation hasn't been as gruelling and he feels the residual fitness banked over the years has stood to the team.

Getting it right mentally is equally important, particularly as he prepares for the joust with McDonald although Fitzmaurice acknowledges one-on-one assignments don't always work out as planned.

"Preparation is a factor. Marking Ciarán McDonald, I'd be aware that he's a big man, he goes deep and that he sets up a lot of their attacks - he's the fulcrum of their attack really and he scores as well. So he's more than a playmaker.

"With some other players who go deep you might be inclined to hang back, others will run at you. You're definitely conscious of the direct opponent you're on the next day and you make allowances and think about how you're going to approach it. At the same time if he's moved or you're moved after 10 minutes those plans go out the window."

Fitzmaurice has family connections in Mayo. His uncle Donal is a garda in Castlebar and his cousin Shane Fitzmaurice has played for Mayo in recent years and he went with his clubmate and county colleague Paul Galvin down to see the Connacht semi-final between Mayo and Galway last June. They came away impressed with the Connacht champions' "ferocious hunger".

Mayo won't have the monopoly on hunger, however, given Kerry's recent disappointments. Fitzmaurice sounds weary of dealing with this dismal cross-reference.

It's easy to get the impression he and the team have been listening to re-runs of their inadequacies for too long.

"There's no point in thinking about the bad days. The only one that matters is the next day. I think there's an element in the county that focuses on the bad days.

"The last team is always the best team and in Kerry there's such a tradition and not just 'the great team' because there have been other great teams and there's a lot of people knocking around the county with All-Ireland medals and they all have their opinion.

"As is often the case, not just in Kerry but in the country as a whole, the ones with the negative opinions are going to make themselves heard whereas the more positive tend to be quieter."

So far, so good, but the team is poised between vindication and extending their unhappy sequence.

"It's where we're aiming to be in one way but in another it's no use unless we go on and finish the job."