Moynihan loss huge blow to Rules squad
The Kerry star cried off the 27-man squad after tearing a calf muscle in the early stages of a club game on Sunday with Glenflesk.
His absence from the travelling party was justifiably labelled "a huge loss" by team manager John O'Keeffe.
"He has been a natural at the code, and was arguably our best player over the last two series. His leadership would also have been a major factor," the Kerry coach explained.
The injury occurred in the opening minutes of an O'Donoghue Cup game for Glenflesk against Gneeveguilla on Sunday, with Moynihan sustaining a muscle tear just above the achilles tendon.
"It's a fairly bad tear and the recovery would be slow," O'Keeffe reported yesterday after consultation with the player.
O'Keeffe has named eleven of the travelling party of 26 they will be joined by Tadgh Kennelly in Australia on October 19 and will announce the remainder next Wednesday.
However, the manager admitted Moynihan's rampaging style would be missed and added: "From a personal point of view, Seamus Moynihan deserved the honour of following John McDermott and Anthony Tohill in captaining his country."
Meanwhile, assuming there are no hitches, the next Kerry football manager will be named in five weeks. Whether it will mean a continuing role for Páidi Ó Sé or a totally new appointment is a matter of conjecture.
The decision is in the hands of the county's leading three officers, who will conduct the interview process before putting a recommendation to the Executive of the County Board for ratification.
Ó Sé, meanwhile, has not indicated his intentions, but, the perceived wisdom suggests he wants to stay on.
The fact that the clubs voted overwhelmingly at a Board meeting on Monday night in favour of the new manager being given the power to pick his own selectors in consultation with the executive is viewed as giving him an added incentive.
Interestingly, it was the manager of the West Kerry team, Sean Barry from Annascaul, who put this forward as a counter proposal to one that the clubs would 'elect' the selectors as heretofore.
Before the decision was reached, all of the club delegates had reported on the views of their members, a process which indicated widespread dissatisfaction with the way the team failed in Croke Park over the last three years.
No criticism was directed at Ó Sé personally, but by implication his management of the team was being questioned.
Chairman Sean Walsh, Vice-Chairman Jerome Conway and Secretary Eamonn O'Sullivan are the three officers who will conduct the interview process.
In turn, they will report back to the other officers before a recommendation is put to the next County Board meeting, on October 27. The aim is to have the matter dealt with at that meeting.
It was confirmed yesterday that the decision to limit the number of selectors to three is binding which means if the manager decides to bring in a trainer, he can only be a member of the selection committee if he is named as one of the two co-selectors initially.
Meanwhile, the Ballyduff minor hurling and football teams will be allowed to play in Kerry competitions, despite a hard hitting ban on the club arising from the violence at the recent SHC semi-final against Kilmoyley.
Kerry GAA chiefs came down hard on Ballyduff, banning all club teams from playing for the rest of the year.
However following representations by a number of delegates at Monday night's County Board meeting, the executive has agreed to lift the ban on the minor teams.
The change to three Kerry selectors applies only to the senior football team. The executive will appoint managers to the minor and under-21 teams and the clubs will elect four selectors. No decision was taken in relation to the junior team.
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