The inexorable ways of Kerry. At the end of what was known as the county's Golden Era in 1986 the roll of honour stood at 30 All-Ireland titles with Dublin next, nine behind on 21. Nine years later, the gap was down to eight just as football was about to enter an intensely competitive phase.

Since then and in the teeth of that competition and the introduction of the qualifiers, Kerry have added five more. Allowing for the fact that Gaelic games are dominated by elites, Kerry's record is phenomenal.

One glum friend from Cork pointed out dispiritedly on Sunday night that his own county was on the verge of being eclipsed by Kerry in the matter of senior All-Ireland totals. Cork's 30 hurling and six football have now been equalled by the neighbours' 35 football to go with their solitary hurling, the first All-Ireland won by the county back in 1892.

Implicit in his concern was the probability that Kerry would get around to updating their figures before Cork.

The cause and effect of those strong traditions of success can be the subject of lengthy debate. Does tradition drive standards or vice versa? In Kerry, despite a couple of uncomfortable hiatuses, the county has won All-Irelands every single decade since their initial success with the 1903 title. That's more than three a decade, a rate unequalled by any other county. That tradition generates its own motivations. During the 1980s the rest of the country would wait in weary resignation to hear the identity of the new Kerry captain so that we'd know who they'd be winning it for that particular year.

In as starkly revealing a quotation as you could hope to hear after an All-Ireland final, Paul Galvin spoke on Sunday about his apprehension that Kerry's whole football history would have been undermined had they lost.

This was striking because the idea that for Kerry to lose to Cork would in a sense wipe the slate clean between the counties should - theoretically - have been at least as powerful a motivation for Cork but plainly wasn't. In other words tradition doesn't just give certain teams an unshakeable confidence that they can win crucial matches but it also places a responsibility on teams to ensure that they don't let down or fall short of that legacy.

And nothing was more traditional for Kerry than having to play Cork. You could argue very plausibly that the final of 2005 was far more of a challenge to Kerry's self-esteem because of the county's humbling by Tyrone in 2003 and the suspicion they were unable to cope with the drive and ambition of Ulster teams. But Ulster teams come and go in historical terms even though they have troubled Kerry more than the representatives of the other two provinces.

The Tyrone indignities have so far gone un-avenged but Kerry have now won twice as many All-Irelands this decade as their rivals - three of them since the humiliation of 2003 - and the threat to the county's standing has naturally receded.

Cork, and to an extent Dublin (whom they've met in 22 championships), albeit that neither has a good record against Kerry, are time-honoured adversaries.

Whereas the progressive development work that has been done in Ulster was seen as an important part of Armagh's and Tyrone's success, the role of coaching in Kerry is sometimes forgotten.

In a timely publication this year Weeshie Fogarty wrote a biography of Dr Eamonn O'Sullivan, who coached/managed/trained Kerry to eight All-Ireland successes. Among other things O'Sullivan was author of The Art and Science of Gaelic Football [ 1958].

Before him, another Killarney football icon, Dick Fitzgerald, wrote the first coaching manual in the game's history How to Play Gaelic Football [ 1914]. Current manager Pat O'Shea is the full-time Munster games manager for football and has also published on coaching matters.

The wheels turn. O'Shea is the first Kerry manager from Killarney since O'Sullivan and on Sunday Declan O'Sullivan became the first Kerry captain since Fitzgerald to lead the county to successive All-Ireland victories.

The supply of capable coaches has also played its part in the recurring success stories. For the four All-Irelands this decade, Kerry have had three separate managers. Nor is this merely a case of one exceptional team on auto-pilot: the recent five titles have been won in the space of 11 years with 39 different players starting over those five finals.

As with Kilkenny in hurling the scale of Kerry's superiority is beginning to arouse fundamental doubts about the system through which they progressed. Roscommon manager John Maughan questioned the qualifiers, which he said are giving Kerry two chances every year.

It's natural that after as disappointing a final as Sunday's people are feeling a bit depressed about football and where it's going but to discard all of the benefits that the qualifiers have brought simply because Kerry are currently the dominant force in the game would be rash.

As it happens the only one of the county's All-Irelands this decade to have been won with the indulgence of a second chance was last year's and the county could argue that without the qualifiers, they might well have won a three-in-a-row given that the Tyrone side against which beat them in the final two years ago had come in on the outside track.

The qualifiers only arrived in 2001, which leaves the previous 100 years to be explained. At a guess: good players, quality coaching and a tradition that inspires as well as sets standards.