The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Expect to see a more^settled Kerry team in this year’s League
Seán O’Sullivan Kerry ought to be a more settled side in this year’s league with a focus on refinement rather than revolution
Iwas jotting down some notes in preparation for my first column of the new season when word trickled through that Kerry had a new captain. It’s a good place to start I suppose. For the record I’ve never been a fan of the system we have as a county in selecting a captain for our teams. It’s old fashioned and out dated.
I was involved in a farcical position myself when I was playing with the Under-21s back at the start of the last decade. Mid Kerry and East Kerry had yet to play the Under-21 county final and it left John Evans with no captain for his Kerry team. It turned out that Aidan O’Mahony and I were the two nominated for the role and the county board ended up tossing a coin. When my good mate from Rathmore called the right side I didn’t even bother suggesting we go best out of three. It honestly didn’t bother me.
Was Aidan a more natural fit for the role than me? Absolutely. I was never bothered about the prestige that comes with the captaincy. The important thing was that I did what was asked of me to try and help whatever team I was on to win. Some guys are cut out for the job and some aren’t, which is why it should be a manager’s call to make and not anyone else’s.
The ironic thing in the current scenario though is I think David Clifford will make an excellent captain. I have had the pleasure of working with him from an early age and it was clear from the outset that not only was he an exceptional talent but he also possessed the qualities that make him a natural leader. The consensus around the county is that giving him the captaincy will burden him with extra pressure that he doesn’t need, but I honestly feel he will only embrace it. He has a real steely determination and a confidence in his own ability that I believe leading this group will only improve.
A captain leads by example and not by words. David showed after a mixed performance in the
drawn All-Ireland final against Dublin how he backs himself every time and he put on an exhibition in the replay. He has ticked the box of playing in his first major final and showed everyone what he can do. The added assignment of becoming captain won’t hinder him; in fact I think it will help his development as one of the stars of our game.
David and Kerry’s first task is to try and pick up from where they left off last year. Bar claiming yet another Munster Championship it was a campaign without silverware, but we did get to the League and All-Ireland Finals. Peter Keane used the League fixtures to optimise his squad and also to introduce different systems of play. He brilliantly found the balance between finding players and winning games and ended up in a final, which, unfortunately, we lost to Mayo.
It was a very rewarding run, however, and it left his group in a very good place heading into the summer. That has to be the aim again for 2020, but I get the feeling that we won’t see a whole raft of new faces in the spring. In my opinion I don’t see that as a bad thing. Keane and his management would, I’m sure, have used the county championship to run their eyes over any potential new additions, but not a whole pile stood out.
Fossa’s Paudie Clifford was probably the pick of the bunch and has deservedly been called in, but injury may delay him seeing action in the early rounds. Tony Brosnan of Dr Crokes, who has been on the scene before, is also back in and maybe will get more opportunities to force his way into the reckoning. Other than that I don’t see the management experimenting as much as they did last season. They have a very good group who were very close to winning an All-Ireland. The more settled Keane’s first fifteen is the better and players get comfortable playing with each other.
Killian Young is the only retiree, with Mark Griffin stepping away for personal reasons. That leaves a deficit in terms of defenders so it does to leave the door open for guys to claim those places even if Young and Griffin weren’t regular starters. Another young Dr Crokes starlet, Michael Potts, is a player who has impressed me. He might still be a bit short in the physical stakes for senior inter-county football, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see him break through this season. He operates at corner or wing back usually, but he is such a natural footballer that he operated in the half forward line for his club.
Barry Mahony of St Senans and Pa Kilkenny of Glenbeigh/ Glencar both saw game time in the pre-season McGrath Cup earlier this month, but with the core group of the senior team away on holiday John Sugrue used the McGrath Cup to have a look at his Under-20 squad so it’s difficult to know how much preparation the seniors will have done leading into their first outing, which doesn’t get any tougher than Dublin at Croke Park.
In fact Kerry’s fixture list hasn’t been kind on them at all. After the All-Ireland champions in Croke Park they must also travel to Tyrone, Mayo and Monaghan. That’s four extremely difficult away games where points will be hard got. With such a tough away schedule it’s crucial that we pick up maximum points in our home games against Galway (with Pádraic Joyce now in charge), Meath and Donegal. That’s easier said than done, of course, but home advantage has always been a major factor for Kerry when it comes to getting wins in the National League.
It will be interesting to see how Peter Keane and the management continue to develop this team, especially the younger players. I know that they have been on an intensive conditioning programme to help them improve even further and maybe find those extra few inches that will hopefully get them closer to, and eventually ahead of Dublin. There is no doubt that a good League run will help in that process, and even if he won’t say it out loud you can be sure Keane will be targeting another final appearance.
It all starts on Saturday night with that trip to the champions’ back yard. Dublin themselves will be short of decent preparation with only an O’Byrne Cup appearance against Longford to their name. With most of the 2019 squad away on their team holiday, Dessie Farrell used that fixture to look at a whole host of new players so again it’s hard to predict what kind of shape his group is in.
On Saturday Kerry and Dublin will be rusty which gives us a good chance of getting a valuable early season win.
Here we go again!
Kerry’s fixture list hasn’t been kind on them at all. After the All-Ireland champions in Croke Park they must travel to Tyrone, Mayo and Monaghan. That’s four extremely difficult away games where points will be hard got