There has always been something a little bit special about Monaghan
YOU often hear it said by players from other counties that the opportunity to play Kerry is a great learning experience. Today it is Kerry’s turn to go to school when they head to Clones for what should be an education in all kinds of ways. I marvel at Monaghan.
However, that does not stop me, like everyone else, writing them off at the start of every year only to be proved hopelessly wrong.
I am in no way underestimating the great work done in recent years by Malachy O’Rourke, Banty McEnaney and, currently, Vinny Corey, but I honestly believe that there is not an easier team in Ireland to manage. The one thing they have always had is this mental toughness which means that they were nigh on impossible to shake off.
Back in 2007, in what was supposed to be a routine All-Ireland quarter-final, they had us all but beaten.
I got a big block in on Tommy Freeman and Tomás went up the field and kicked a winning point, but we left Croke Park in a rush that day in fear that we might be charged with robbery.
That was a different generation of Monaghan footballers, but that mental toughness, that desire to give absolutely everything to their jersey is a constant.
It is why their players seem to go on forever, they squeeze everything out of themselves when others would have long packed it in, the likes of Declan Freeman, Dick Clerkin, Owen Lennon, Dessie Mone, Drew Wylie and, of course, Corey seemed to flirt with the pension age before calling it a day.
And it is why the warriors, Darren Hughes and the remarkable Conor McManus – the latter playing through a pain barrier for more than a decade – will be back again this year, still going hard, still believing.
They seem to not be remotely fazed by what is thrown in their way, most notably the likely absence of their exceptional goalkeeper Rory Beggan, the retirements of Shane Carey, Fintan Kelly and Kieran Hughes, along with the unavailability of Conor Boyle. One of the smallest counties in the country, their 10-year stay in Division 1 is second only to Kerry in terms of permanence, and after last weekend their tenure looks more secure than their visitors right now.
So, what is their secret? Because of their limited resources – a driving force also in why players invest so much in the jersey when they get into the team – they always look to the future. The most impressive element to last Saturday night’s win over Dublin – and there were many – was that it was achieved with an evolving team.
There are no bigger gloves to pull on that Beggan’s, yet Darren McDonnell make them fit quite snugly, Killian Lavelle made the move from midfield to full-back without batting an eyelid, Michael Hamill marked his debut by winning a penalty, Ciaran McNulty marked his by coming from the bench to execute the most delicious finish for a goal and cap it with the winning point.
All of this did not happen by accident. Monaghan have one of the best honed under-age systems in the country – they have reached four out of the last six Ulster minor finals. But as we know in Kerry, it is one thing having underage success, it is another maxing out on it.
Monaghan always seem to make the most of what they have for a reason. An opening night visit to Croke Park could easily have been an excuse for Corey to play a safe hand rather than to go with the selection he did. But for a county who have spent most of the last decade defying relegation on the final day, his focus was elsewhere.
‘We have to have one eye on the bigger picture with Monaghan,’ said Corey on Saturday night.
‘We don’t need to be playing all those boys from the start and maybe neglecting the blooding of new players. But it’s a learning curve, they’ll know that themselves in National League football. They’ll go out the next day and it mightn’t be as open and as free. They have to learn that and we have to put them out there to learn that. That’s what we intend to do.’
I love that boldness, that absolute conviction in exposing young players to a challenging environment is the only way to ensure that they will get an education in the fast lane. And that is exactly what Kerry needs to learn.
Of course, there is a balance to be struck between winning the league points that will secure league status and trialling new talent, but that balance does not have to be evenly struck.
In Kerry, the only thing that matters is winning the All-Ireland and I can state with absolute conviction that we will not be even in the final unless we can unearth players who can step straight into the team over the coming months
There has been a lot of concern expressed about Kerry’s lack of depth and I get that, but that would also seem to imply that the starting team is fine. It isn’t and almost certainly will have to find a midfielder and, I’d argue, two half-forwards.
That is why losing to Derry did not grate last weekend, but seeing two newcomers in Sean O’Brien (before half-time) and Cillian Burke (early in the second half) being taken off most certainly did.
Kerry has not evolved in terms of personnel over the last half decade.
And standing still is just another way of going backwards.
There is a better way to go.
That should be the lesson which Kerry take from Clones this afternoon.