In the wake of Kerry's All-Ireland final victory over Galway, a picture emerged on social media of team manager Jack O'Connor visiting ex-Kingdom supremo Mick O'Dwyer with the Sam Maguire Cup.
A photo dominated by Kerry football royalty. Between them, the pair have led their county to 12 All-Ireland titles.
Those in Kildare quipped that all they saw was two former Lilywhites managers. And the duo had a considerable impact on the Leinster county too.
'Micko' led the county to the 1998 All-Ireland final, and also secured two Leinster titles - the county's only provincial successes since 1956.
O'Connor had a less significant footprint, with the lure of his native county meaning his reign was cut short after two seasons last year. But he nonetheless left them in good stead for Glenn Ryan, along with Anthony Rainbow, Dermot Earley and Johnny Doyle, to take charge.
"The first year there was a lot of finding out about where we were and trying to get everything in place and I think we will be in a much stronger position starting off this year with the panel we have, knowing where they are at and building that relationship, any successful business or sport is built on relationships," said Doyle, reflecting on 2022.
"And ultimately I think we'll be in a far better place than we were this time last year."
The Lilywhites' management team were among a travelling party that recently paid a visit to former mentor O'Dwyer in Waterville.
"It was something we wanted to do, go down and have a chat," Doyle said.
"And it was good going back to Waterville, before the training camps in Portugal and Spain we used to go down to Waterville so there were a lot of good memories.
"It was great to chat to him. He's as sharp as a razor. He might not be moving as well as he was, but, by God, the mind is sharp. He was talking about years ago with Kildare and talking about the county final on Sunday.
"When Micko was introduced [as Kildare manager] in 1990, it was Clane and Naas and I think more people came to the county final that day to see Micko being unveiled, and it was the biggest cheer heard in Newbridge for a long time.
"It was great to get down and have a chat."
Playing under the eight-time All-Ireland winning manager has helped to mould Doyle's own coaching philosophies.
"A lot of the training regimes have changed and everything is very scientific now, but there's certain things that travel well through time; honesty and hard work," he said.
"Micko just wanted you to come in and train and be the best you could be and be the best you could be for Kildare. Do we do 30 laps around the field anymore? No, we don't. Do we train hard? Yes we do, and we train hard on a consistent basis and is that all scientific? No, it's not and there's a bit of psychological stuff in that and knowing that you've been through the ringer and that you came through it with a group of lads.
"Micko would have been accused of being old school but a lot of his ideas were very much new ways of thinking, and not everyone thought that way. He was a psychological master, he got the best out of players and that's what we are trying to do still.
"Some of his ways might not be seen as forward-thinking now, but certainly he was ruthless and I don't ever remember too much time on our own talking with Micko. He came in, we trained hard and you did your best and if you weren't happy with that you knew where the gate was.
"We were coming out [last week] and he said best of luck for the year, and he said...he would be fully keeping an eye on us and seeing how things were going and he's a big supporter of Kildare still."
A mixed 2022
The Lilywhites delivered a rare win over the Sky Blues in a February National League encounter in Newbridge, but Dessie Farrell's side set the record straight with a comprehensive victory in the Leinster final.
But Doyle feels the gap is not as wide as it has been in recent years.
"We'd like to think we have a lot of good young lads coming. We have had success at under-age level against the Dublins of this world," he said.
"Still, Dublin are where they are at and I'd like to think that gap is being bridged, but how wide the gap is still is difficult to say.
"If you were to look at the Leinster final last year, you would say it is as big as ever and it is very hard to argue with that, they stuck five goals in in the first half and you are thinking deja vu. Those are the facts of the matter but I certainly think that wasn't a true reflection of where we were at.
"It was very disappointing from a Kildare point of view but I think the gap has been bridged a small bit anyway and time will tell where it is at.
"I'm sure other counties will be looking at it. Colm O'Rourke coming into Meath as well will have one eye on Dublin and trying to bridge the gap so that is the challenge for Leinster and we have to try and bridge the gap further."
And there is also a psychological hurdle to overcome against the Dubs.
"That's the challenge for all teams - to get over that because that's the way it has been for 10 or 12 years now, heavy defeats to Dublin for everyone in Leinster," Doyle continued.
"And if a team stays within 10 points it's nearly seen as a success. Most of us would have grown up saying if you were beaten by 10 points you got a hiding. So there has to be a psychological thing there and that's for each county to get right.
"When you do break it down, the physicality side of it, all teams are training hard and putting in huge effort from a physical point of view, a practical point of view and a skills point of view and all that. So there has to be something from the neck up and that's the challenge for everyone, trying to get that side of it right."
Nonetheless, he sees no reason why Kildare cannot take a major stride forward in 2023, noting the improvements of Galway and Derry this year.
"Both counties...had brilliant years and with a bit of luck Galway could have easily got over the line to win an All-Ireland," he said.
"It has to be motivation for players and inspiration for players to see that we compete with teams, and it's just having that bit of luck.
"That's up to us as management and up to players to make sure that we put ourselves into them positions. We were in a strong position in the Mayo game and we didn't see it out, and that's the challenge for us. But certainly from when you do see teams like that - and every year a team will hit a grain of form and go maybe where people don't expect them to go. That has to be a motivation for everybody involved.
"While I'd love it to be Kildare and not Galway winning an All-Ireland, it does give everybody a chance to say 'look, we can go on a bit of a winning streak and get a bit of luck and keep lads injury-free and have a strong panel'. Sure why shouldn't it be a Kildare or a Cork or whoever? I don't see any reason why it couldn't be."