Yerrah
Darragh Ă SĂ©: Kerry are building themselves into a serious proposition (via @IrishTimes) Darragh Ă SĂ©: Kerry are building themselves into a serious proposition
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Iwas delighted to see a much improved Kerry on Sunday in Killarney. I still think they are a level below Dublin but you can see that theyâre going the right way about closing the gap. They might not have faced much opposition in Cork but they still did plenty of things that would give Kerry people hope in the weeks ahead.
This is the funny thing about being a supporter. You know what to look for in your team, be it good or bad. You notice little things that people from outside the county probably wouldnât â and the same goes vice-versa for when youâre looking at their team. Itâs those little things that leave you coming away from a game with a better sense of where things stand. Theyâre the difference between being optimistic and having false hope.
So for instance, when I saw Brian Ă Beaglaoich heading up the field with the ball, I could see straight away what he had in his head. Iâve seen him set off on runs like that a good few times for our club, An Ghaeltacht.
The other thing I took good encouragement from was the fact that Kerry were noticeably fitter and stronger than Cork
The problem is, Iâve rarely seen him finish it. He has an awful habit of kicking a wide or dropping the ball into the goalieâs hands. Heâs always full of serious intent, but doesnât always bring the accuracy to make it count.
I think especially of a club game last year against Beaufort where he made this fantastic burst upfield, full of leadership and go and all the stuff you want. But then he kicked it into the keeperâs hands and straight away, it turned a positive into a negative. It ruined his good work and if you were watching on, you would nearly rather he didnât make the burst at all if he wasnât going to finish it.
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But on Sunday against Cork, he didnât just finish it. He buried it. He carried the ball 60 metres and nailed his finish into the bottom corner of the net. Thatâs not an easy shot, either. He was kicking across the keeper into the far corner with one Cork defender chasing him down and another coming across to try and block him.
So thatâs the kind of thing that I would be encouraged by. Not just that Ă Beaglaoich scored his goal but also that he did it when it was needed. If his goal was the fourth one with the game long won, thatâs a different thing. But this was with the teams level, a couple of minutes before half-time.
And look, things like that arenât always going to go your way. Youâre not always going to come up against an opposition that will back off and back off to leave you run those 60 metres without anybody tackling you.
Jack Barry was able to open up a straight road to goal for Ă Beaglaoich with one simple sprint across his running line, bringing Ian Maguire with him. It was a decent enough decoy run but it was nothing too complicated. Against a better set-up, it wonât get you the same bang for your buck.
A young supporter celebrates Kerryâs fourth goal during the Munster SFC Final against Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. Photograph: Brian Reilly-Troy/Inpho
The other thing I took good encouragement from was the fact that Kerry were noticeably fitter and stronger than Cork. Their athleticism and conditioning is a step above â and they didnât even need to go doing army training on the beach in January to achieve it.
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It was so obvious, particularly because of the heat of the day. I was sitting in Fitzgerald Stadium knowing how hot it can be down on the pitch on a hot summerâs day and the fellas I was really keeping an eye on were the likes of David Moran and Stephen OâBrien, the older guys on the Kerry team.
There was a dead heat in the ground, the result wasnât in doubt from a long way out. If anyone had an excuse to go easy and try to conserve their energies for Croke Park, it was those older players. Especially when the majority of the Kerry team are still in their early 20s. But they were still setting off on lung-bursting runs, keeping the foot to the floor. They were going as strong at the end of it as they were at the start.
The final thing that Kerry supporters would take away is the form of Paudie Clifford. This isnât the first time he has caught the eye this season â he has been a really positive addition to the set-up all the way through the league and again last Sunday.
People talk about his physicality and the fact that he likes doing all the graft and dirty work but I wouldnât overlook his basic skills with the ball either. Thereâs a lot of football there. What I like about him is that he nearly always makes the right choice in possession. Some fellas pass when they should shoot, others try and long kick when a middling punch pass would be better.
Paudie invariably does the right thing. He doesnât over-complicate matters. I love that in a player. The game is not simple â donât let anyone tell you itâs a straightforward thing to play intercounty championship. But if you have the skill of getting yourself in the right position at the right time to make a simple pass pay dividends, you will go far.
I thought the contrast between him and someone like Luke Connolly on Sunday was clear for all to see. Connolly is clearly a lovely striker of a ball and very talented. But he has a bad habit of trying to do too much at the wrong time in the wrong situation. He had a go at two diagonal balls â crossfield, eye-of-the-needle jobs when the game was in the melting pot. Neither of them came off.
My question to Connolly if I was doing the Cork autopsy wouldnât so much be, âWhy did you do that?â It would be more, âWhy were you in a situation that made you think such a complicated skill was the only way out?â Iâm all for talented players pulling off big spectacular plays if thatâs what it takes. But on a big pitch with highly qualified team-mates all around, thereâs usually a simpler way to be effective. Thatâs the key to Paudie Cliffordâs game.
Kerry manager Peter Keane talks to Paudie Clifford ahead of the Munster SFC Final against Cork in Killarney. Photograph: Ryan Byrne/Inpho
He isnât alone in it in the Kerry forward line. SeĂĄn OâShea is similar in the way he doesnât overcomplicate things, although heâs more versatile with it. I look at OâShea and you could play him anywhere from 5 to 15.
I think he would make a super midfielder but you could also have him as a leader of the team from centre back. He reminds me of SĂ©amus Moynihan in that regard. But you combine that with his scoretaking â which sometimes reminds me of Maurice Fitzgerald â and you have a huge asset in the Kerry team.
SeĂĄnie must thank his lucky stars sometimes that David Clifford came along at the same time as him. Without Clifford, all the weight of being the next Kerry star forward would be on OâSheaâs shoulders. Heâd be the attack leader and the free-taker and all the attention would be on him in every game. Instead, itâs on Clifford and it leaves SeĂĄnie to go about his business, doing as much damage as he can while everyone is concentrating on Clifford inside.
Interestingly enough, this was Cliffordâs second poor game in a row against Cork. He had that nightmare in PĂĄirc UĂ Chaoimh in November and he was anonymous here. I wouldnât get too bogged down in it â heâs too good to let it annoy him for long â but itâs something to take note of all the same.
What does it all add up to? Kerry are clearly becoming a serious proposition. They go out with the proper attitude in each game now â last yearâs defeat to Cork will be useful on that score for a long time to come, hopefully. And they have reasonably good depth as well, which is going to matter when things get tight further down the line.
The reason I still have them below Dublin is fairly straightforward. Until they beat them in a tight game, they have no right to be favourites in my mind. As I said last week, Dublin might well have lost a fair bit through retirements and step-aways or whatever but they havenât been beaten in a big game in seven years.
Kerry and Mayo have run them close but when it has come right down to it, when all the chips were in the middle of the table, it has still always been Dublin who have found a way to be the ones who play the best poker. That knowhow is priceless.
I played on teams who had it. I was able to look around dressingrooms and know that it was there. The All-Ireland quarter-final against Monaghan in 2007 was a perfect example. There was skin and hair flying on the pitch but it was nothing compared to what was going on in the dressingroom at half-time when everyone was roaring and shouting and trying to work out what we were doing wrong.
But even though I didnât know exactly how we were going to turn it around, I looked at the likes of Declan OâSullivan and Colm Cooper and TomĂĄs Ă SĂ© and Paul Galvin and I knew that when it came right down to it, we would have a huge advantage over Monaghan in the nuts and bolts of actually winning the game. Of keeping our heads when the temperature was through the roof and every decision was crucial.
The one time in recent years that situation was applicable to Dublin and Kerry was the closing stages of the 2019 drawn final. Kerry had the lead, they had the extra man, they had the ball. But they hadnât the experience or the tools to kill the game.
Maybe that has all changed in the two years that have passed since then. But we donât know if it has so we canât say it. All we can be fairly sure of is that Kerry have closed some of the gap. And if there were 10 minutes to go in an All-Ireland final and the sides were level, I know what my heart would be saying.
But I also know that my head, if it was cool enough at that stage, would still presume that Dublin will come out on top.
Tik Tok Aido OâShea was on a bizarre segment on Newstalk drive time earlier. I assumed he was on to plug some product, charity or tv show but it was pretty much based on Mayo winning the Connacht title last week, their all ireland title hopes and how Aido coped with lockdown. He got in a plug alright for Eir who sent him a waterproof phone when he was sea swimming earlier this year and heâs zoned out to any social media abuse when cuddihy brought up the topic of Simone biles and the tennis wan. A very odd appearance from a captain of a team who are still in the hunt for an all ireland. I couldnât imagine any other captains coming on the show in the same way to basically talk about nothing apart from themselves.
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The punt list for me:
Bitton
Griffiths
Taylor
Bolingoli
Ntcham
Barkas
Edouard
The following needed:
1x GK
2 x RB
1 x centre back
1x LB
2x central midfield
1x winger
2x striker
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I missed this, what was the context?
Ah here⊠itâs not like Cooper padded his stats against Limerick, Clare, Waterford or Tipperary every year, is it? FFS!
are you confusing the 1980 all ireland final with the the 1983 final??
at least in 1983 when ye won , the 3 men that were sent off they went off unlike 1995 when ye won next, sure no need to leave the field even if you are sent off!
fair play to him, there is enough GAA players saying sweet fcuk all but would like to but have an omerta placed on them by managers
I doubt his appearance on newstalk damaged Mayoâs chances
Cluxton may be the most successful captain of all time, doesnt mean every captain has to become him and say sweet fcuk all to any media outlet or his own supporters
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Dubs were known as the dirty dubs âŠbite, boot and bolloxâŠ
Kerry always claimed to be holier than thou when truth was they were only good at giving it and moaned when they had to take it âŠ
Good bit on Championship reform there. Brolly back to form.
I remember the McGuinness proposal a year or so back, certainly seemed to be on the button.
The senior Championship (under McGuinness proposal) this year would have involved:
Kerry
Dublin
Galway
Donegal
Tyrone
Monaghan
Roscommon
Armagh
Mayo
Meath
Kildare
Westmeath
Laois
Clare
Cavan
Tipp
Next year it would involve
Kerry
Dublin
Donegal
Tyrone
Armagh
Monaghan
Kildare
Mayo
Galway
Roscommon
Meath
Clare
Down
Cork
Derry
Offaly
I donât see why they just canât play off the provinces and take the 8 provincial finalists and place them in the tier 1 championship. Have two rounds of qualifiers open draw - round one is all sides eliminated before provincial semis with the 8 winners playing the 8 provincial semi final losers. The 8 teams left standing joining the finalists in tier 1.
The other 16 teams go to tier 2 championship.
Clean slate every year and gives smaller counties no barrier for entry and the opportunity to make the top tier. But I think there would be no appetite from the bigger counties who would want their spots in the top tier as good as ring fenced. A tough draw could see some big boys having to spend the remainder of the championship in tier 2.
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Because the provinces are imbalanced. Thereâs more good teams in Ulster than there are in the other 3 provinces combined.
And then the better sides should come through the qualifiers to get into tier 1. Likihood that a beaten Ulster team would in all probability would have to get past the weaker sides in the other three provinces barring the odd lopsided provincial draw
The provincial system is what makes the whole thing imbalanced.
Kerry play in a hurling province so get parachuted into the latter stages every year. Thereâs not a decent team in Leinster outside of Dublin. Mayo are the only team with pedigree in the past 15 years in Connacht, Galway have potential but no backbone, Roscommon have delusions of grandeur.
The Ulster Championship is the best thing in gaelic football but it means that Ulster teams are gagged when it comes to the AI championship.
McGuiness solution has 4 Ulster teams competing this year and 6 next year. On the balance of probability they would have similar enough representation in my proposal but an open draw allows for the odd smaller county to make a run to tier 1 and will throw up the odd huge game where two tier 1 teams meet in the qualifiers with a huge amount at stake along with retaining the provincial championships which are each provinces main money spinner.
5 this year and 6 next year.
If a qualifier system comes it then there should be a prerequisite that teams from the same province cannot face each other until the latest possible stage as an open draw could reinforce the same lopsided nature of Championship.
What youâre suggesting is similar to pre Covid format.
The difference between Ulster and the other provinces is that anyone can really put it up to anyone in Ulster. You could make a case for Connacht but itâs such a small province and Leitrim and Sligo are two of the worst teams in the country.
Any functioning qualifier system has to address the provincial imbalance. Thereâs nothing stopping the two Ulster semi finals played a fortnight ago from being first round draws and then thereâs nothing to stop those two losing teams meeting each other in the first round.
Meanwhile Kerry can hammer a Div 4 team and be in a provincial final.
I would have no issue with teams from the same province avoiding each other where possible
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Antrim, Cavan, Fermanagh and Down are such exceptional sides of course.
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