O’Brien: No extra pressure to halt Dubs’ record bid

KERRY footballer Stephen O’Brien has insisted that stopping Dublin’s ‘Drive for Five’ is not an added motivation this year. His own county’s historic bid for five All-Ireland titles in a row was famously scuppered in 1982 by Seamus Darby’s dramatic late goal in the final for Offaly — but the jet-heeled attacker believes there is no extra pressure this year to stop Dublin setting a record. ‘Obviously there’s the historic thing with 1982, and the Kerry-Dublin rivalry in general, but it’s not extra pressure on us. ‘You have only so many years in your career, so you just want to get the most out of them. This year is no different. ‘We’d like to stop that. But we’d like to stop it by winning the All-Ireland – like any other year. ‘The last two years we haven’t played them in the Championship, which is disappointing because you definitely want to test yourself against them.’ The first chance to lower the flag of the reigning League and Championship holders comes in a home league game at Tralee on Saturday, February 9. While O’Brien (below) is only getting to know new manager Peter Keane, he says the approach hasn’t changed fundamentally from Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s time in charge. ‘Yeah, it’s similar, you can definitely see how he has been successful with other teams. He’s very business-like. ‘He wants to kick the ball and he wants to attack, which is the Kerry way.’ In departing, Fitzmaurice referenced a level of personal criticism from supporters that crossed a line. O’Brien admits he was a bit surprised by how bad it got, even if there is precedent. ‘When you see about the letters and all of that, you know where you’re from — you know that Kerry demand excellence. ‘That’s not a new phenomenon for us. Being from Kerry and playing Kerry football, there’s a demand for success.’ One area he said the team needs to work on is tackling, a big reason why former Mayo coach Donie Buckley is on board. ‘Yeah that’s something we need to work on. ‘To see the work he’s done with Mayo. To see their tackling and their foul count, it’s way down.’