Fitzmaurice eager to make the most of versatility

IF Eamon Fitzmaurice had a crystal ball he might not necessarily like what the summer season holds in store for him.

Then again, he might be pleasantly surprised. In comparative terms, last year was a write-off, because he had only two starts out of six with Kerry in the championship. Currently he's enjoying a new role at centre-forward, except that he can't be sure how long it will last.

It was where he played with Finuge in the county league last week-end. Not for the first time, his club position has been influenced by where Kerry have selected him and he'll be there again in tomorrow's crucial Allianz League game against Tyrone in Omagh (2pm).

In his early years, he usually filled the number 11 jersey. But since he made the centre-back position his own with the county, he was mostly played in this position with his club (and at other times at midfield).

Finuge's long run in the inaugural All-Ireland junior club championship which ended with outright success in the final against Tyrone side Stewartstown almost 12 months ago caused him to miss out on Kerry's early League games (along with Paul Galvin). After making a comeback, he played in the opening two rounds of the championship but was dropped for the Munster final. And he had to be content with playing for the last few minutes (as a substitute for Seamus Moynihan) in the All-Ireland final.

"Earlier on, I felt I was doing enough to be in the team, but you always think that yourself. Basically, there were seven players for six positions and I didn't get back for the rest of the year,'' he recalled.

Starting off this season, he was picked at centre-back. All went well until he lined up against Mayo's Ger Brady in the opening League game under lights in Tralee. To use his own words, he got "a bit of a burning".

"I don't know if Jack (O'Connor) was looking for an alternative role or whether he was looking to accommodate me, or whatever. He rang me and asked me how would I feel about playing at centre-forward against Cork the following week. I said I didn't mind, I'd give it a lash and see how it would go.

"In Tralee, you could see that Brady and the whole Mayo team were a good bit fitter than we were that night. He's a strong centre-forward, he has been doing well in the League and before that in the FBD league. I'd be hoping that if I was centre-back and I came up against him in full fitness I'd do a better job. But that night he bettered me.''

In his more accustomed role at the heart of the defence, he was ideally placed to judge centre-forwards. Now, he's hoping to put the experience to good use. "You come across different styles.

Probably one of the best around, I think myself, is Brian McGuigan. He's a very good player, he works hard and chips in with a few scores as well.

"Ger Brady is more of a direct kind of centre-forward, the way he runs at you. Kieran McDonald, then, is spraying around passes. Conor McCarthy for Cork plays a kind of link role where he moves around, getting on a lot of ball and bringing other fellows into the game."

Fitzmaurice says each time he goes out he's learning a bit more. "You're trying to do something newer or different. I suppose initially when I went up there I wanted to work hard and get a bit of a presence there. To get on the ball and help out the forwards any way I could."