Fitzmaurice: Desperation dictates ploy for points

He is still finding his way as Kerry coach, but Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s open-door approach to media duties has already won him kudos from the laptop brigade.

And so when he was asked after yesterday’s attritional league encounter in Tralee why so many teams were now opting for the mass defence model, he was typically unequivocal.

“Because getting bodies behind the ball means you’re going to win games,” shrugged Fitzmaurice in a tacit acceptance that toil is now king.