Jimmy ready for junior hotseat
Jason O’Connor spoke with former Brosna manager Jimmy Keane about his new role as Kerry juinor manager
AFTER leading his native club to the steps of the Hogan Stand in claiming All-Ireland Junior Club glory two years ago, Brosna’s Jimmy Keane takes on a different challenge this year in trying to maintain a successful spell at Junior inter-county level going for the Kingdom after winning the last two and featuring in the last three All-Ireland Finals of the competition.
He isn’t exactly coming in from the cold with the manager’s role however having been a selector last year with Stephen Wallace and he admits, even though it isn’t exactly the case, that Kerry are still looking at the ‘Development Squad’ model for the Junior set-up.
“Ideally we are looking at the Under 23 age bracket again but for a variety of different reasons there are about 18 players that will not be involved with us initially. A lot of it is to do with exams, but if we do manage to progress in the competition then there are players who might come into the reckoning later on.
“A lot of what we are working on at the minute would players from the 2015 All-Ireland winning side which gives a lot around the 25 age bracket,” the Kerry Junior boss said.
Preparations haven’t been ideal especially with replays in the County Championship to be worked around. Keane is happy, however, with the sessions they have been able to do so far with at least 40 players assessed by the Junior management.
While Kerry were assured of a place in the semi-finals by virtue of the competition mirroring the senior draw, their opponents Limerick were given a walkover to the same stage with the withdrawal of Clare from the competition.
On the other side of the draw Tipperary withdrew meaning Cork’s game against Waterford was a straight semi-final which the Rebel county convincingly won two weeks ago to reach the decider at the end of June. In an overall sense, Keane is worried by the fact that only four teams took part in the competition this year.
“It’s worrying to see it go that way in Munster when interest seems to be increasing in the competition across the country. They had to have an extra round of the Junior Championship in Leinster this year with the number of teams that entered and it is a group of players (Under 23s) that seem to be neglected by a lot of counties once players leave the underage grades,” the Kerry Junior boss feels.
Last year’s campaign impressed upon Keane that there was nothing easy about trying to win at Junior level and expects another big challenge from Limerick this weekend.
“We got an awful fright last year that came down to the last moments of the game with the goal we got to shade it. In general Limerick have been progressing in this competition in recent years.
“There had only been a score between Cork, themselves and ourselves in recent years and I am sure they will view this as a great opportunity for themselves particularly being in a neutral venue like Ennis,” he said.
The uncertainly about whether the game would be Saturday or Sunday wasn’t ideal Keane felt but did say it was only a matter of choosing between either Thursday or Friday for the team’s final training session prior to the game.
In terms of a management team, Keane has a former All-Ireland winner at this level in Niall O’Mahony of Spa along with West Kerry manager Paul Quinn and Tarbert’s John O’Connell as selectors and says he would like to develop future Kerry sidelines as much as future Kerry players. “There’s great talent out there amongst coaches, the amount of All-Irelands being won at different levels proves that and to try and give people experience of what it is like managing at inter-county level is something I would like to achieve with the group in much the same way I learned from last year with Stephen,” he said.
Since the turn of the decade Kerry have reached the All-Ireland Final in this grade in all bar two years (2011 and 2013) with three wins and two losses the net result of the five times the Kingdom have reached the decider.
With the general trend towards All-Ireland wins in most grades by Kerry sides beyond senior level expectations will be high about another good run by the Juniors this year.
It’s one that should be treated with caution however as Junior level brings with it its own challenges in terms of preparation and player turnover particular after an All-Ireland success due to the competition rules.
You sense Kerry have a shrewd operator in Keane at the helm though not least with the manner in which he brought an unfancied Brosna side to their All-Ireland Club success.
Kerry won’t be underdogs by any means at this level but meeting expectation levels will be the initial challenge for the 2017 side in what they hope will be a prolonged campaign.