‘It means everything’
watching back on the DVD after, he found himself watching the match back and being a bag of nerves, despite knowing that his side had emerged victorious, such was the intriguing nature of proceedings!
The Beaufort captain acknowledges though the benefit of the tough campaign they had in the Kingdom.
“The preparation you get in Kerry is the best around for going on to a provincial championship. You’re coming across the likes of Firies with Jack Sherwood, Na Gaeil with the Barry s, Stefan Okunbor, Diarmuid O’Connor.
“As a team and individually you are being tested. There aren’t too many players in the country who have that sort of preparation going into the provincial championships,” he said.
The Munster Final with Dromtariffe would be another extra-time affair, one Beaufort were not expected to have to endure, but Breen said the team felt secure once extra-time came.
“Despite how poorly we played in general, we weren’t panicking or angry with ourselves that we found ourselves in that position [extra-time]. There was just that sense in the dressing room after normal time that we could do it and that Dromtariffe were running out of legs that we managed to draw on it in pulling through like we did,” he said of the Munster Final win.
Indeed, coming through experiences like that requires a degree of coolness as much as passion for Breen.
“Playing the game with emotion will only get you so far. At the end of the day, you need to be concentrating on doing your job. The window of enjoyment is small for players, to be honest.
“If you’re there to enjoy it, you are not going to get to Croke Park.
“If you want stand around Croke Park looking at the supporters and enjoying the occasion, you are not going to come out on the right side of it,” the Beaufort captain said.
Breen says that preparation has been where it needs to be ahead of Saturday and in their campaign in general.
“We’re feeling quite good. Preparation has been second to none by both management and players. Guys have been showing up week in and week out for a long time, putting in a good effort and trying to draw the man beside them on,” he said.
If success does come for the Mid Kerry side on Saturday, Breen says it will be for the parish itself that he would be particularly happy.
“Like everyone around the parish, lifting that cup would mean everything, but it’s not about me personally but lifting the cup on behalf of the parish and the forty five guys involved in the squad, it would be fantastic.”