FITZGERALD FOCUS IS PURELY ON THE TEAM
Kerry captain is unsure of his place but he wouldn’t have it any other way
IT qualifies as something of a risk for Fionn Fitzgerald to sit out tomorrow’s opening round Allianz League clash with Donegal at a time when Kerry air is thick with talk of transition.
The Dr Crokes defender finds himself in the unusual position of being one of Kerry’s most successful captains of recent times — he has hoisted the Sam Maguire, the Allianz League and the Munster Cup (twice) — yet his constant battle has been finding a place on the team.
Fourteen of his 18 Championship appearances were notched up by 2015, as for the last two years he has had to fight for his game-time.
And with a queue of defensive talent forming — the likes of Jason Foley, Tom Sullivan, Brian O’Beaglaoich, Cormac Coffey and his Dr Crokes team-mate Gavin White are all likely to be given their head this spring — this is hardly the ideal time to step back.
will be available later this month after returning to training last week but for a man who possesses a Masters in Sports Science and lectures in IT Tralee, he hardly needed telling that his body required a break.
‘Basically I haven’t got a break for two years.
‘I had a very long campaign between Dr Crokes and Kerry and I would say five days is all I had off in two years so a rest is good. I had a bit of a hip issue so I had to take a break for a few weeks to give the body a chance,’ he explains.
It hardly qualifies as a dilemma for Éamonn Fitzmaurice who has had to face this issue almost on an annual basis.
Kieran O’Leary and Kieran Donaghy did not start the 2014 & 15 All-Ireland finals despite their status as captains, while the 2016 skipper Bryan Sheehan was on the bench for that year’s epic semi-final defeat to Dublin.
It is an issue rooted in the tradition that county champions get to nominate the captaincy — Kilkenny the only others to standby a once time-honoured practice — but Fitzgerald believes it should stick.
‘But I would say that wouldn’t I,’ he laughs.
‘I was reading a bit on Dick Fitzgerald [Kerry’s iconic backto-back winning captain] in his book going back 100 years ago and he was captain because Crokes won the SFC in 1912, ’13, and ’14 so it’s something that has been going on a long time.
‘We talk a lot about winning in Kerry so it’s part of the tradition of Kerry football so I don’t see why it should change,’ adds Fitzgerald.
The one thing set to change is the team, but Fitzgerald is happy at that prospect too.
‘I would separate the captaincy from getting your place on the team if that makes sense.
‘I have been battling to get on the team for the last year or two so I don’t think that is going to change.
‘You’re playing with the wrong county if you’re looking to mark your own spot and not look at Kerry going places in the longterm or for that matter even this year.
‘It is very exciting to see these young lads come on board. Does it mean there will be serious competition for places? Absolutely.
‘That’s the nature of the beast. That is how Kerry have always been successful.
‘You want to be pushed as hard as you can to get a place and if someone gets it ahead of you, well, that’s probably a good thing for Kerry overall.’
With a condensed calendar schedule and an increased number of games, the squad conHe cept has never been more relevant.
‘The way the Championship is going to go this year; it is very interesting and exciting. With the amount of games you could have, you’ll need a bigger panel.
‘More so than any other year, your panel will be used this year. Previously you were looking a month between games. There’s no consistency there. If you get to a League final and All-Ireland final, between club and county you could have 20 games up to September.
‘I’ve never had that before. That’s exciting. The nature of that means there’s going to be more injuries so you will need more numbers.’ And they will have to be better too. As they start out on a new season, the sting of last year’s semi-final exit to Mayo still smarts with the Kerry captain.
‘We had a good finish to the League, performed well in the Munster Championship but for whatever reason we took a nose dive in form in August.
‘We did not perform, basically. We got what we deserved at the end and it was not good enough.
‘Look, League is League and we know what the main one to win in Kerry is.’
I would say five days is all I had off in two years