Why Dubs will tick another box tonight
This week in the county, local newspapers carried pictures of a seriously fit Tommy Walsh in action during St Kilda’s NAB Cup game against Brisbane Lions in Melbourne. The pictures served as a powerful reminder to all Kerry followers of the native game what they’ve been missing since September 2009. And yet, having watched wistfully as Walsh makes his mark down under, there is a quiet satisfaction within the supporter ranks because of the way Walsh’s former colleagues in the green and gold have gone about their business since the start of this year.
When the McGrath Cup campaign began just seven weeks ago, Kerry were officially a team in transition and the received wisdom was that Jack O’Connor was taking on the challenge of his managerial career in overseeing that transition. Five games later and apart being turned over by Cork in Tralee, the evolution of this group of players continues without any major upheaval. Maybe all this talk of rebuilding, of radical surgery and of a dearth of genuine quality emerging from the ranks was a smokescreen. Or maybe in the games to date, supporters have been seeing what they wanted to see, bending the evidence to suit what we want to make of it and interpreting performances and results in January and February as being somehow important in the greater scheme of things.
That’s why tonight’s fandango in Croke Park is being anticipated by some in the Kingdom as more than just a validation of preconceived ideas. Last week’s win against the head in Mayo has had the desired effect of sending the team and followers to Dublin in good spirits and tonight’s return to the scene of their last championship defeat represents a significant step-up in tempo.
In other words, it’s just what Kerry need right now. Last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final was an unforgiving diagnostic of Kerry’s deficiencies in terms of pace and sustained intensity. The questions that have lingered since related to the hunger and desire of the veterans, the strength in depth of the reserves and the ability of potential newcomers. The two league games to date haven’t offered definitive answers, but there are tantalising glimpses to suggest some players are willing and able to step up to the mark.
The Dubs, too, have presented a very positive narrative to National League 2011. Ever before a ball was kicked, the prospect of having four high-profile games under lights in Croke Park was always going to motivate Dublin players. If it’s bred to the bone that tonight’s opposition perform on this, their prairie home, then four Croke Park appearances before the end of April also provides laboratory conditions for Pat Gilroy to scrutinise the whole mental strengthening process that they’ve invested so heavily in these last 18 months.
What better way to find out if U21 full back Seán Murray has the right stuff than to throw him in on Kieran Donaghy? And what of James McCarthy taking another huge leap up the learning curve by chasing the in-form Darran O’Sullivan for the evening? Jack O’Connor’s benching of Jonathan Lyne has brought the player burnout debate centre-stage again and it would understandable (even if a tad disappointing) if Pat Gilroy were to leave his defensive spine on the sideline after both Murray and McCarthy played 80 minutes when going down after extra-time to Meath in the U21 championship last Wednesday.
It also seems unlikely that someone of Michael Darragh McCauley’s ability would be left on the sideline from the word go tonight. If he is available for selection after his late defection last week due to a digestive complaint, it might be wise to use his talents. Granted, Barry Cahill and Denis Bastick more than held their own against Cork last week but if gaps were to appear in defence because of fatigue or unavailability, either could be shifted back with the tireless McAuley offering a more serious midfield presence.
Kerry’s selection committee have raised eyebrows themselves with the positioning of Bryan Sheehan in the middle and David Moran on the wing. I imagine the thinking would be that Sheehan is on the crest of a wave, both physically and mentally after the last few weeks with club and county and that Moran, at half forward, can offer the extra legs in Croke Park’s open spaces — a role he played to perfection against Tyrone two years ago in Omagh, where he gave glimpses of what he may become for the team by kicking thoughtfully and linking between backs and forwards, without having the responsibility of calling kickouts or commanding the middle. Whatever misgivings people have about his ability to impose himself on a game, I still believe Moran is the sleeping giant of this Kerry team.
Ciarán Whelan spoke on these pages yesterday of Dublin having tweaked their game plan to the point that they’re now playing an attractive brand of football and of how they’re very exciting when they are on the counter-attack because of playing with more men up front. Bernard Brogan is still grabbing the headlines but Kevin McManamon is, in many ways, the key personality when discussing how the Dublin attack can be best configured; the possibilities range from straightforward playmaker, deep-lying ball winner, hard-running battering ram and scorer. The new Kerry centre back, Eoin Brosnan will have to be all things to all Kerrymen tonight to minimise McManamon’s impact.
Since their turnaround 18 months ago this Dublin team have passed a few significant barriers. They have beaten Tyrone, Cork and Kerry in league football in the last year. They’ve eclipsed Tyrone in championship and ran Cork close. Beating Kerry in Croke Park, if only in the league in February, would be another milestone. It won’t be easy because Kerry would have viewed tonight’s game as one of a handful of spring games that required special attention.
But with Dublin going 34 years without a championship win against Kerry and 18 years since their last in league football in Croke Park, they have more to gain. I believe Dublin can and will win.
