The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
It’s the waiting that kills you but the wait is over
Sean O’Sullivan says the players will be just delighted the interminable wait between League and Championship is over
ASK any inter-county footballer what the most frustrating thing is that they face year in year out and I’m sure the majority would give you the same answer; waiting.
Waiting for the Championship to come around used to drive me and my team mates up the walls. The break after the League used to seem like an eternity and is definitely an area the powers that be need to look at. Take this year as an example. Kerry finished their Division One campaign up in Omagh on March 25 and make their Championship bow this Sunday. That’s exactly ten weeks of a gap. It’s too much.
Of course, this season was different as players were back with their clubs for the month of April, which for the record was a huge success, so at least they were getting games weekend after weekend. Players just want to play and trying to stay motivated during a ten-week gap can be excruciating.
I remember training would get very edgy during that time. It was bound to. For a start management would see that period as an ideal time to get some fitness work done.
It’s very hard to push yourself through high intensity endurance running when you know you won’t kick a ball in anger for nearly two months. It would be during this time as well that the squad would head off for a training camp, usually to Portugal. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? It wasn’t. Now the fitness coaches had access to you 24/7 for nearly a week and again it was tough to motivate yourself. It was natural that tempers would boil over.
I recall one training camp where one particular guy, who was new to the scene, complained of injury
when a running session was called. However, he miraculously recovered when we played A v B games. The older brigade in the squad took exception to it. The rest of us were getting flogged on the running track and when it came to the football session we were tired. This guy was nice and fresh for the football and flying about the place. Let’s just say in one of the games he was lined up and hit hard but fairly on numerous occasions. He definitely got the message as he was back on the running track the next morning!
That might sound a bit harsh, but it’s a snap shot of how cranky players got just waiting for June to come. Don’t get me wrong, we knew we had to do the tough training as it would stand to us down the line, but it was a grind with your next game so far in the distance. Challenge games would be organised and in fairness they served a purpose but it just wasn’t the real thing.
Of course, the plus side to this was it gave you the opportunity to impress the manager. You would be itching to play football to show you were in form, you made damn sure you were up the top of the group in the runs and you crossed your fingers and toes that you would avoid injury. All in all it’s a difficult time of the season for players, but it is what it is unless change comes about.
On top of all that, as much as you looked forward to the first Munster Championship game it invariably worked out that you would be coming up against opposition who, on paper at least, you were expected to make light work off. Again this was dangerous water.
More often than not the team you faced would have had a quarter-final under their belt so regardless of their quality compared to Kerry they had Championship football played and we did not. There were times when, and this wasn’t down to complacency, we struggled for long periods in that first game. It took us a while to get to the pitch of the game and at times we looked lethargic and stuck to the ground. One game in particular that stands out for me was against Clare – Kerry’s opposition this Sunday.
It was 2008 in Killarney and will be remembered for Paul Galvin’s disagreement with referee Paddy Russell. Clare came to Killarney that day to drag us down to their level and for long periods they succeeded. We were scrappy and it was a perfect example of a team who hadn’t played for a long while. The final score did end up 1-14 to 0-5, but it flattered us in a way. Our quality shone through in the end, but it far from a vintage display.
The current Kerry team face a similar situation this Sunday. They face a Clare team that dispatched Limerick quite comfortably and will be aiming to make life very uncomfortable for Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s men.
The opening quarter will tell a lot. If Clare target that period as an opportunity to frustrate Kerry then they can keep themselves in the game. However, if Kerry come out of the traps fast then they obviously have the quality to blitz the Banner men early on.
The worry I have is that Kerry will be rusty and it could take them a bit of time to get going. It will then depend if Clare can take advantage of that.