Stacks' Greg Horan: 'The most pressure I ever felt was playing that intermediate final'
Austin Stacks captain Greg Horan receives the Kerry IFC trophy last year from county chairman Patrick O'Sullivan
Greg Horan is only 30 but he has taken more knocks than a heavyweight boxer. He broke into Austin Stacks seniors when still a minor in 2013 but nothing has been straightforward since. Stacks lost that year's Kerry SFC final to Dr Crokes but there was compensation the following year when they beat Mid Kerry after a replay.
He was a Kerry U-21 for three years but did his ACL in 2016. Three years later, he suffered the same injury to the opposite knee. He has torn hamstrings, and had a bone coming out through his finger last year. Patellar tendinitis in 2019 meant he had to turn down an invitation from Peter Keane to join the Kerry panel.
“Jack invited me into the Kerry panel in 2021 and I won All-Ireland in 2022 but the following year, I tore my calf and had to pull myself away from Kerry," Horan explained.
"I am injured again this year and I have been coming on playing a minor role. Injuries can be crippling. They were long roads, building resilience. You learn a lot about yourself."
Stacks won the SFC in 2021 but lost their senior status the following year after defeat to Kenmare Shamrocks. Senior status was regained last year when they defeated Laune Rangers in the intermediate decider after a replay.
“That was a massive blow to us," said Horan about suffering relegation.
"That’s not what Stacks are used to. It was our first time ever going to intermediate. Even in 2023, when we had Fossa in the semi-final, and they beat us, I was just coming back from a hamstring injury. We had a lot of injuries again, and it killed us a bit.
“If you see the guys now who played in those years and have transitioned, they’re falling into the flow of it now. Last year I’ve never felt like pressure like it before. This will be my fourth county senior championship final, but the most pressure I ever felt was playing that intermediate final.
“It’s a weight on your shoulders, and some of us were involved when Kenmare beat us. We weren’t at it, and we felt that we were part of the reason why we went down. A lot of people were talking about transition, but I don’t like to believe or feed into that.
“There are always new players coming in, yet there are always senior or veteran players that are there. We just had to batten down the hatches and get back out of where we were."
Losing to Na Gaeil in the senior club championship group stage, and to Rathmore in the quarter-final, was a turning point this season.
“It was probably a blessing in disguise," said Horan.
"We just reviewed ourselves in what we were doing, and we tweaked a few things. We were half asleep, if you want to say."
Horan believes Ben Murphy has a bright future, as have all the Stacks young guns.  "I remember myself, going back to 2014, I wasn’t coming in just to be part of it and sit down and watch," said Horan.
"I wanted to be playing, and I pushed hard. That’s what they’re doing to us now.
“Ben Murphy is outstanding. It looks like he has been playing senior football for the last five years. He’s taking games by the scruff of the neck. He has a good head on his shoulders.
“Paddy (Lane) is stepping up too. Again their attitudes are just professional, which is great to see. Everything is football with them, and that’s what they want to do."
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