Team ethic is key for minor boss Peter Keane

CAN Kerry do it again? Can Kerry really win this championship for the fifth year in succession?

That’s the big question hanging over this squad of players and their manager John Hennessy. Ostensibly what happened last year – when Ian Brick was manager – and the years before that – when Pat Ryan and Seanie O’Shea held the reins – have little to do with what will happen this year.

Underage grades are cyclical by their very nature. Form last year is in no way an indicator of how this year will go. Just because Kerry won the past four titles in-a-row doesn’t mean they’re automatically favourites for this championship.

Nor, by the way, does it mean that they can’t win. Still five in-a-rows in any competition are rare. Carlow were the last to do so – between 2002 and 2005 – so can this Kerry team follow in their footsteps?

“I’ll be quite honest with you we’re hoping to win it,” Hennessy says straight up.

“But all I would be worried about is the physicality of it and the two biggest players we’ve have are two Kerry minor footballers so it’s going to be doubtful whether they’re going to make the first twenty four now. We have a strong panel, we’re very happy with it, but we’re not too sure about the two dual players. Tomás O’Connor and Fionán Mackessy, I think they’re concentrating on the football.

“We played in a development squad tournament there in Limerick and we’re very happy. We’ve a lot of this Under 17 panel. I was fairly impressed with them last Saturday, the Limerick development squad beat us by a point and we beat Clare development squad by a point.

“A lot of fellas showed up but the only thing is, typical Kerry, we’re very small. We saw Kildare play and Kildare are very big. We’d be hoping that home advantage would tell for us, but they’ve been going very well in training now in fairness.”

Whatever about physicality this particular Kerry team would seem to have some serious firepower at its disposal. Two of those players in particular stand out for the new manager.

“Shane Conway is captain now so we’ve a big Lixnaw contingent coming in with us,” he continues.

“We had the minor county league final last Monday. They’re two serious hurlers, Conway and Barry O’Mahony

“There’s players from all over the county, from Kilgarvan, from Abbeydorney Niall O’Mahony, from Lixnaw Liam Mullins there, and they’re serious hurlers, serious.”

It sounds a potentially potent combination of players. Five ina-row good? Don’t rule it out.