Sean O'Sullivan joined us on our Kerry Hour on our Drive For Five Special.
The former Kerry half-forward was part of four All-Ireland winning panels.
But during his appearance on the Kerry Hour, he also looked back at one of the transition points for the Kingdom.
It was 2009, they'd lost the previous year's All-Ireland final and had fallen short in Munster.
Kerry followed that up with a narrow wins in the qualifiers against Longford, Sligo and Antrim, before Dublin lay in wait in the quarter-finals.
"When we get together, the Kerry lads, we often talk about '09," said O'Sullivan.
Head-scratcher
"It's a head-scratcher because it was the year Jack O'Connor was back in charge after Pat O'Shea had done his two years.
"We'd lost the All-Ireland the previous year against Tyrone and it was a year that started so well.
"We won the league, beating Derry in the final. Looking back, maybe that was papering over some cracks.
"We thought we were maybe further down the road than we actually were."
GAA Football All Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final 3/8/2009Dublin vs Kerry
Conal Keaney of Dublin with Darragh O'Se of Kerry ©INPHO/Donall Farmer
But as Sean O'Sullivan added, Cork "blitzed" them in the Munster semi-final replay.
"I kind of compare it to what's possibly going on with the Irish rugby team at the moment - and that Irish team that went into the 2007 World Cup," he said.
"From the inside looking out, we couldn't put our finger on what was wrong. I know people outside looking in, Kerry supporters were on phone-in shows saying, 'There's something wrong here'.
"But we always felt that there was one big performance in us. I don't know was it we were on the road a long time, but we just couldn't find that little bit of cohesiveness within the group to drive on.
"We pulled ourselves out of some really holes. I mean, we went away to Longford on a wet day, played terribly and got out of there. Very, very lucky to get over Sligo in Tralee. And it was unheard of, Kerry only beating Sligo by a point in the Championship with the greatest respect to Sligo."
As O'Sullivan explained, there were "crisis meetings about crisis meetings" as they sought an answer.
The Train
"Then we played Antrim above in Tullamore and again played poorly. But we got out of there winning by about six points I think," he said.
"People often say, 'Was it a game that changed your year? Or something that happened in training?'
"For us that year, it was actually that train journey down from Tullamore. We were on that train, fellas were down and the management you could see were pissed off with us.
"Next thing, the draw came through on the radio that we had got Dublin in Croke Park in the quarter-final.
"It's amazing. The carriage just turned giddy with excitement. Fellas started playing card games, started talking about training next week. Everything was forgotten about.
"The fellas who went offside after the Sligo game were back again and driving it."
And spoiler alert, Kerry overcame Dublin in that quarter-final.
You can watch also Sean O'Sullivan and the remainder of the Kerry Hour below as part of the full Drive For Five Special:
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