Try telling Kerry they’re in transition
Perhaps it was due to the fact that covering election results for Radió na Gaeltachta could have only limited appeal when there’s a big match on up the road – or maybe there was a sense that both Cork and Kerry’s familiarity with one another had exhausted our reserves of enthusiasm for the fixture. However, for some reason the big Munster derby didn’t get me going last year.
There is a general anticipation these days that Kerry and Cork will meet at a later stage in the championship and because only Fermanagh, apart from Kerry, have beaten Cork in championship football since 2004, things may have gone a bit stale for the punters, if not for the players.
Certainly, the experience of being in Kerry or of living a life in Kerry during the summer months is diluted because of the regularity of recent clashes with the Rebel county and I imagine it to be the same in the football strongholds of Cork.
Since the inception of the qualifiers in 2001 there has been a drumbeat within the GAA for reform of the provincial system and although it may have been a muffled sound at the start, many are now beginning to march to its rhythm. The fact the current system still appears to be the only show in town proclaims the primacy of traditional values over market values and it may take a drop in support from both counties to really precipitate the radical overhaul needed.
The irony is that Munster football has rarely had it so good. Limerick continue to be compelling gatecrashers on Munster final day,
Tipperary football is as respected as it has been for some time, Waterford have a chance tomorrow at getting to their first Munster final since 1960 and even Clare have had a club in the All-Ireland final as recently as last March.
Sean Walsh, one of the most progressive chairmen Kerry GAA ever had, is guardian of Munster GAA at the moment and the two big teams, Cork and Kerry continue to dominate at national level. Whatever about surface appearance, tomorrow’s attendance figures will tell us a little bit more about what it feels like inside for the supporters of Munster football.
For me it feels like a time that is calling out for imagination and invention.
Second guessing Conor Counihan and Jack O’Connor is difficult at the best of times but heading into tomorrow’s game both sets of players know that it is often the unforeseen and sometimes the unknowable aspects of a Kerry-Cork game that make it impossible to manage or forecast. In recent Croke Park clashes, I often felt that the only difference between the counties was that Kerry knew how to play and what to play for.
By ‘how to play’ I mean that key experienced players on the Kerry team were able to act out the unscripted parts of the game much better than their Cork counterparts and by ‘what to play for’ I mean that Kerry were vivified by fear of failure whereas sometimes Cork tried to fight the feeling. I have never doubted Cork’s desire to win big matches against Kerry but in recent clashes that huge need seemed to become all consuming.
When the Kerry players are gathering in the Dr Crokes complex on Lewis Road tomorrow afternoon they will realise that the run out against Tipperary a few weeks back will be of limited value despite all the talk of Kerry being in better shape at this time of year compared to recent seasons. While the game itself will benefit players, there were a number of fault-lines appearing that will have worried management ahead of the Cork game.
The concession of two types of goal is one such fault-line. Once Michael McCarthy was bypassed with a quick ball over his head on a counter attack down the middle, the avenue opened up for Philip Austin to exploit for the first Tipperary goal and the apparent lack of communication under a high ball for Tipp’s second was equally alarming.
Kerry were able to counter Cork’s stunning capacity to penetrate right down the middle in their last championship clash by packing the middle area with defensive midfielders and sometimes with wing-forwards.
Can we expect Seamus Scanlon to do a similar job to Darragh O Sé tomorrow and can we expect Cork to play it straight down the line against Michael McCarthy as they did before?
In attack Kieran Donaghy appears to be playing the game with the freedom and perspective that a spoiled season can give a footballer and the challenge for Graham Canty is diminishing his influence. The challenge from a Kerry perspective is to get the right type of ball into him and Donaghy himself has a key role to play in this.
Due to the success of the high ball up to now in 2010, the temptation to kick high angled balls into the big man ad nauseum is huge. While Kerry’s outfield players would be foolish not to play to an obvious strength – notwithstanding the fact that Paul Galvin’s accuracy from the right flank will be absent – the approach must be varied and Donaghy must have an input into the type of ball played into him.
A few sneaky runs from the front inviting low ball would be guaranteed to keep the Cork full-backs guessing. Declan O’Sullivan and Donnchadh Walsh have key roles to play in the variation of attack and after the forward losses sustained since last year’s final (Kennelly, Tommy Walsh and Sean O’Sullivan) Walsh’s form as a hard-running outlet is hugely encouraging from a Kerry perspective.
With some key personnel absent (players such as Anthony Lynch and John Miskella who have always performed in Killarney) and other players’ preparation compromised by injury, tomorrow’s game is a fantastic opportunity for Conor Counihan to test the perceived strength in depth of his squad. Poor performances from U21 graduates in Killarney will plant the seed of doubt for the rest of the summer and good performances will embellish already burgeoning reputations. We suspect that Cork’s strength in depth is not an illusion and that tomorrow’s performance will reconcile the continuum between league and championship form.
Many of these Kerry players, however, are not in the business of accepting their label as a team in transition. They have re-invented and re-imagined their game quite impressively and are still playing with a hunger they have no right to have. With that in mind and with a awareness of bigger battles ahead for both teams, I believe Kerry will win this one.
