In any code in any game anywhere in the world, no team can do without their spiritual leaders and be successful at the highest level, unless they are operating from a higher plateau than the other teams they will encounter.

The Limerick footballers will attempt to tackle Kerry on Saturday evening, and gain revenge for last year’s Munster final defeat, shorn of their spiritual leader John Galvin, along with another leader Stephen Lucey, but not forgetting the aggressive dirty ball winning James Ryan, the very underrated and pacy Andrew Lane and the defensive wing forward Padraig Browne.

We knew about Browne, Ryan and Lane well in advance. However, Galvin is the prime difference between Limerick being ranked 32nd in the footballing world and (ignoring league form), being a top 10 championship team for the past couple of seasons. Galvin wins ball overhead the hard way, and wins it against the best of opponents. Dara O Se - while he might never admit it - could never truly say that he was able to manage John Galvin. O Se has not been replaced in a Kerry jersey and prior to Galvin’s injury there was a belief building within Limerick that midfield dominance could set the tone in a low key Saturday night game that may finally wrestle the Kerry monkey off our backs.

To lose one leader is misfortunate, to lose two is absolute misery. Other counties have the depth to cope some days though not all. Not Limerick. How do you cope without Galvin and Lucey? Name any championship team that can lose five first choice players and expect to compete let alone win a match against the same opposition a year later. Not even the top teams in the country could do it.

Johnny McCarthy has been playing a lot of football in his best position of centre back this year but the reluctance to move him outfield over the last two years stemmed from robbing Peter to pay Paul. He starts at centre back on Saturday evening and will be expected to drive the team forward, but Declan O’Sullivan needs marking, so McCarthy will be limited in opportunities to drive forward. Stephen Lavin has dropped back into the full back line to mark the Gooch so there is a reversal of roles there.

Based on the team selections it would look to be Gallagher on Donaghy (less streetwise than Lucey and perhaps too honest to mark Donaghy), O’Riordan on O’Leary, Lavin on the Gooch, McCarthy on Declan O’Sullivan, Ranahan on Darren O’Sullivan and Barry Fitzpatrick the newcomer and captain may possibly pick up Donnacha Walsh. Kerry will feel that they have the edge on pace to do damage here, and fouling won’t be an option with Bryan Sheehan at midfield to kick frees from the ground. On that note, the blade should be lowered and the grass should be cut as bare as possible, to make sure that there isn’t a cushion to kick frees from the ground. Barring a Brian Scanlon special, Limerick aren’t going to be kicking frees from the ground anyway, so perhaps its no harm to attempt neutralise Sheehan’s impact from frees.

The Limerick game plan will have to change slightly but not considerably. In Croke Park last year when the Division 4 league final entered the melting pot, it was Jim Donovan rather than John Galvin who was the ‘go-to’ man as Galvin was still a little ring rusty upon his return from basketball. Kerry will probably try to break the ball from Donovan. Tom Lee is a different type of player and is essentially a spoiler who specialises in picking up breaks. This is the pressure cooker environment of Munster championship football and it’s unknown territory for Lee but if that midfield partnership clicks they could hold their own in terms of midfield only play. We will need to get through midfield differently and the kick out strategy will need greater variation. Anthony Maher and Brian Sheehan are not going to dominate teams for seventy minutes, and Seamus Scanlon’s absence would have hurt them in different circumstances. That said, Micheal Quirke will carry the can at midfield if introduced. In any event Galvin's capacity to drive forward that will be most sorely missed.

From 2003 to 2005, Limerick were able to hold players like the Gooch, O Cinneide and Mike Frank, but it was Eoin Brosnan who did the damage. He is back to torment us on Sunday, and he will drive at us every chance he gets. Jamesie Kelly has been picked at centre forward, though his brother Stephen might yet play there. Jamesie is a deceptively quick player over a short distance, but would not have the staying power to track Brosnan’s thrusting runs forward. While he might not have the athleticism of his brother Stephen, he is a seriously clever ballplayer. In fact, in terms of his football brain, he probably ranks ahead of all the other Limerick forwards and knows how to find the net. The challenge for Limerick in future years will be to develop the athletic side to his game. Seanie Buckley will be expected to display a work rate like never before and the Limerick management need to box clever and ensure that he, rather than the Kelly brothers, is the man on Aidan O’Mahoney.

John Cooke has been given his chance at full forward and he needs to use his physical presence ensure that Marc O Se isn’t allowed to drive out and attack the ball. The two Limerick corner forwards Ian Ryan and Ger Collins have the ability to trouble their men, but probably won’t receive enough of early ball.

There is a simple formula in Gaelic Football. If the ball is in the Limerick full forward line, the opposition cannot score. However, Limerick seem to unnecessarily hold onto it too often in their own half so that if a move breaks down it’s a certain score. If a move breaks down in the full forward line it’s a long way up the field to the goalposts. We need the ball in that area as early and as often as possible. Collins went to town at the start of the Munster final last year, but his supply dried up against the severe wind, and his influence waned. Any Limerick game plan without John Galvin has to revolve around getting the ball early to both him and Ian Ryan.

Kerry would probably win this without even looking to their bench, but the battle of the substitutes' bench will probably decide it nonetheless. Remember the Kerry vs. Cork games in Munster last year? Remember how both games changed once Paul Galvin entered the fray? Enough said. Then there’s the aforementioned Micheal Quirke who will provide the backup option at midfield. Padraig Reidy will steady the ship at the back if our corner forwards do happen to get enough early ball to do damage. Barry John Keane will come in to poach the scores. We have very little in comparison. Men who will not let the side down, but at the same time, men of lesser proven quality than Kerry. Eoin Hogan, Seamus O’Carroll and Eoghan O’Connor have raw pace but you need serious guile against Kerry. The type of guile we will be missing in John Galvin and Stephen Lucey

Essentially the low-key Saturday night home game would have suited us as underdogs and enhanced the potential for an upset, it could have been the greatest night ever in Limerick football history. Not to be unfortunately.

Sometimes life just ain’t fair.