Legion of madness
JOHNNY CULLOTY is soloing down memory lane, through the decades of Kerry football with incredible ease of thought and explanation.
Though he barely looks old enough to remember the 1955 All-Ireland final, that is where his story begins. It is a story that will incorporate four more All-Ireland titles, including the captaincy of the side in 1969 when Kerry beat Offaly. There are 12 Munster senior medals in the collection with eight in a row from 1958-1965. Throw in the National Leagues and Railway Cups, a spell in management and a impressive career as in inter-county hurler (winning an All-Ireland medal with the Kerry Juniors, in 1961) and you begin to realise the importance of the GAA to Culloty. And vice versa.
Yet, for all the accolades, he is modest when recalling the past.
"I played at centre forward with the Kerry minors in 1954 when we were beaten by Dublin in the All-Ireland final. We were five points up and they got two late goals to win, that was my introduction to Croke Park."
The disappointment was quickly forgotten as Culloty's green and gold career took an unexpected twist. "At the end of that year I won a Junior All-Ireland medal. I had not played up to the final but at the time there was a home and away decider and in the first game Dan McAuliffe broke his ankle and I got the call up, played one match and had an All-Ireland medal."
Kerry's senior selectors soon took notice of the tyro at corner forward. The following summer, he came on as sub against Cork in Killarney, and kept his place for the semi final and replay against Cavan before the incredible victory over the highly fancied Dublin that boasted the dream forward line of Ollie Freaney, Des Ferguson, Cathal O'Leary and Kevin Heffernan.
The young Killarney man who caught the eye, with a superb showing on Mick Moylan. The future for both Kerry and the youngster from the Legion club in Killarney was looking incredibly bright. Those looks though were deceiving.
Culloty was to damage his cartilage the next season in a Railway Cup game. The injury, such an minor medical affair in modern times, required a six-day stay in hospital and the lack of physiotherapy meant his recovery time veered from months to years.
In his absence the county side had lost to Cork and infamously to Waterford in 1957. Though he returned to the county squad, he was confined to a role on of the sidelines before fate presented him with another opportunity.
"All this time I was playing in goals for the senior hurlers while a sub for the footballers (Culloty played minor county hurling for four years). One day we played in a Gaelic Weekly tournament which was for the top few teams in the country.
"The regular goalkeeper, Marcus O'Neill, didn't travel so I was thrown in goals! Marcus retired about a year later and that was the start of my goalkeeping career which ended after we were beaten by Cork in the Munster final in 1971."
The truth being stranger than fiction section doesn't end there. In all that time, Culloty never stood between the posts for his club, or his county championship side, East Kerry.
His playing career over, he was back with the county within 12 months as trainer. He managed Kerry to win three National Leagues (1972, 1973, 1974) but couldn't replicate the formula for the championship.
Though his current role offers him a chance to once more bring more glory to his native county, Culloty still yearns for the past.
"It is never the same buzz when you are not playing yourself. It would take a great, great game now to get the same emotions. I enjoy it, don't get me wrong. I like to see the changes and it is interesting to look to the past."
One of the names from the past which keeps cropping up is Dr Eamon O'Sullivan. Half a century on Pat Flanagan is being credited with his appliance of science to Kerry football.
Recalls Culloty: "Kerry won the All-Ireland in 1953 and then they did away with collective training. That was a system where players would come into a collective training camp for a week or two. It was banned in 1954 and Kerry got to the All Ireland final but lost. In 1955 the collective training was back again and Kerry won the All-Ireland.
The sessions were only used once or twice a year once the championship had reached "serious stage" when the Munster crown had been won invariably against Cork.
"We never trained collectively for the Munster final or for the first semi-final against Cavan in 1955," adds Culloty.
But after their draw with Cavan, the County Board sanctioned one of O'Sullivan's week-long sessions with the non Killarney players sequestered in the town's Park Place Hotel. "The whole day would be planned. You would get up out of bed around eight and go for a walk of a few miles before breakfast. Breakfast would usually be a good Irish effort and then there would be a morning training session and one in the afternoon.
"There was no specific diet programmes after the evening session you would either have a mixed grill or a steak. There was no weight of gym programmes but a lot of those guys were working the bog, on the farms, working as fishermen."
Dr O'Sullivan continued his role into the 1960s. Jim Brosnan, Johnny Walsh and Culloty were all at the helm before Mick O'Dwyer took charge of Kerry in 1975.
Given that he has the experience of half a century in the most successful football county in Ireland, how does he rate the new batch, the Pat Flanagans of this world?
"His programmes are excellent, they are not monotonous. In our time you trained mostly the same all of the time but with Pat he has different sessions for different players and times of the year and all of that keeps the lads interested. But Culloty feels that natural talent should not be forgotten. Maybe there is too much emphasis being placed in creating footballers with bodies of granite. It was something that caught his attention as a child, looking for that extra edge on the playing fields around Killarney.
"Football was hard enough back then and I wasn't very hefty myself. But I remember reading and hearing about Timmy O'Leary from my own club in the '30s and the Landers, Purty and Roundy, in the '40s. They were not big men but they could adjust to the situation. They could use their speed or knackiness of whatever to get the upperhand on who they were marking."
And he learned his lessons the hard way. "I was playing senior football when I was about 16 as there was no juvenile football at the time. You would be coming up against county players, big grown men, so you picked things up fairly quickly."
There is a hint of sadness when recalling those days when two or three hours would be whittled away training with friends simply kicking around. "It was more laid back and we enjoyed it more but every crowd were doing it that way then, just as every crowd are doing it (more professionally) this way now. Back then a set of jerseys would last for the year. Today after one game you see them swapping jerseys. Gaffney Duggan Lord to Mercy on him was in charge of jerseys and 'twould take a good man to whip a jersey off him in those days!"
Culloty first met Jack O'Connor in the early '90s when both were selectors under Páidí Ó Sé on the county U21 side. When O'Connor moved up to manage the team, one of his first calls was to Culloty. Ger O'Keeffe was added to the mix when the senior post became available after the Ó Sé debacle. Culloty believes that the dynamic on the sideline is the key to their success.
"Ger and myself are the two selectors and we work well together. We try to be unanimous about everything. If you see something you suggest it to the other lads after that it is just consensus."
But would Jack have the final say? "Jack is the main man," he says with a laugh. "Age, I suppose," is his reply when asked what he brings to the equation. "I see a lot of matches between colleges and clubs. If I saw fellow I thought was worth a run, I would say it and again we would discuss it and take it from there. Pat takes the training physical, Jack takes the football and myself and Ger then add our thoughts. I don't think there is any big deal to it. But we have a good relationship, which I think is key."
So to Sunday. The game face is on. Talking to a Kerryman about Cork football is a minefield of cliches and talking up the opposition. But Culloty wouldn't have it any other way. "Every year in the old days you could be assured of meeting Cork and they're always capable of beating Kerry in the championship. Personally, I think that the county championship in Cork is more competitive than it is in Kerry.
"You never take them lightly. Take this year. We just about shaded it in the Munster final and look at the improvement Cork have made since then.
"There is more confidence in them and all the pressure is on Kerry as All-Ireland and Munster champions. It is like Kerry and Dublin in 1955. Dublin were mad favourites and most of the country were wishing Kerry would beat them. I think most of the country would like to see Cork beat us on Sunday."
Back to Back All-Irelands: It is not in our heads on the sideline, but players might think differently. It is getting tougher on the lads as the seasons are getting longer and longer, but they are really dedicated. When you come to a semi-final of an All Ireland and you see the end of the road coming it is an incentive.
The Football championship: Football can't be falling behind hurling. You might have individual games in hurling which are better but look at the overall pictures.
Go through the counties and see how many are capable of winning the All Ireland in football. Now do the same for hurling. You will still end up with the same few names for hurling while there is a fair spread of sides than could win the football.
Ulster football: Every year they are talking about Kerry not playing this team or that team. Sure we can only play who we are drawn against.
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