Interview/Paul Galvin:Any preconceived notions of Paul Galvin are dispelled within seconds of interviewing the Kerry running machine. The temperament of the man has boiled over on the main stage in recent times. An altercation with Armagh "water-carrier" John Toal that led to a second yellow card and dismissal at a crucial point of the All-Ireland quarter-final springs to mind.
Kerry survived Galvin's dismissal largely because Kieran Donaghy had scored a goal despite the full attention of Francie Bellew.
This season Kerry cannot afford to lose an experienced player like Galvin for the last 10 minutes of their defining game as Eamon Fitzmaurice has retired along with the defensive pillars of Mike McCarthy and Seamus Moynihan.
New leaders must stand up, starting on Sunday at Fraher Field in Dungarvan despite the opposition being lowly Waterford. Galvin is now part of the inner circle younger players look to for guidance. The north Kerry native welcomes the responsibility.
A pre-season sojourn in Australia meant he missed the bedding-in period under the new regime. Still, manager Pat O'Shea confirmed his continued value by picking him at wing forward, from where he will surely wander, for Sunday.
"It was definitely strange for a while," he says of life after Jack O'Connor. "Obviously, I missed out on the early part of it because I was away and it was a bit different, a bit strange because we were used to the previous set-up for the last three years. But Pat is quite similar in many ways. They have similar personalities in that they are both open, honest and direct.
"Pat is not going to change anything really about the way we play. We will be pretty similar to what we were."
Every team that has captured Sam Maguire since 1990 has been burdened by the "back-to-back" demand. Kerry and Tyrone managed two from three since the turn of the century, while Armagh have threatened, but no modern panel has maintained the required drive and intensity to retain the All-Ireland.
Is it a question of appetite? "I don't really think it is an issue. You have got to try and win as much as you can when you can.
"I am going to be 28 at my next birthday and the way the game is going, you are not going to have too much time after that. At 27, I find it is getting harder every year and I was talking to Darragh Ó Sé about it and he is 32 now and he was saying every year it gets even harder to prepare for training not to mention playing games.
"So you just have to grab it while you can. Win as much as you can, while you can."
