Silence in (green) and gold
Who’s the fastest player on the team?
As this is Kerry, shouldn’t we answer with a question: is that over a short or long distance, sir?
“Tom O’Sullivan will win any race over 20 metres, if he feels like it,” suggests one slightly sluggish team-mate, “but once Eoin Brosnan gets his legs pumping, he can fairly cover the ground.”
Who is the team’s practical joker?
“Well it was Darragh Ó Sé, but he’s after copping on a lot,” observed a fellow prankster. “Then again, so has everyone, so it’s still Darragh, when he’s up for it.”
Who’s the most accurate with a ball in hand? Hint: it’s not Colm Cooper. Perhaps Dara Ó Cinnéide or Declan Quill, but how often has anyone seen Eamonn Fitzmaurice deliver a wayward pass? Or Seamus Moynihan come to think of it.
Who’s the quietest and most under-estimated footballer in the squad. Hint eile: it’s one and the same Michael McCarthy.
The Kerry full back is the least loquacious member of a pack once notorious for their reticence with the media. The hand-over from Páidí Ó Sé to Jack O’Connor may have drawn back the curtain to some extent - Kerry are one of the few sides who still allow quote-hunters into the dressing room - but McCarthy won’t change now.
“He doesn’t even talk in his sleep,” smiled one colleague.
Pity that. The 27-year-old Kilcummin man has enjoyed a season to be proud of, one many observers thought he would only see in a rear view mirror. Dogged by a knee injury for two seasons, McCarthy has rediscovered the sharpness and form he showed for Kerry in their run to the 2000 All-Ireland title. And if you forget that, ask Galway’s Derek Savage.
“The biggest advantage he has is his anticipation,” reflects Savage, who struggled over two titanic tussles with McCarthy at corner forward. “Because Croke Park is so big, a defender is asking for trouble playing someone ‘from the back’. He has the confidence, the pace and an ability to read the game which allows him to gamble and play in front of his man.”
Any valid assessment of this Kerry team must begin with their ability as footballers in the simplest sense. If Jack O’Connor was to turn his formation around for tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final, there is every chance that his six defenders would do him proud in attack. In the case of his full-back, there is a case that he should be up there anyway.
“I’ve heard a lot of people argue that he should be playing on the 40,” says former Kerry selector, Sean Counihan, who coached Kilcummin to their only county final appearance in 2003. In the semi-final that year, McCarthy hit a goal from midfield against Gaeltacht that would be described by a ‘whoosh’ in the comic strips.
“He has always been an excellent footballer, first and foremost,” states Fr Larry Kelly, who coached McCarthy to a Frewen Cup success at St. Brendan’s College in Killarney. “Having pace and a great positional sense will always give a player an edge, and he had those qualities from a young age.”
So having appeared to master the switch from corner back to full back, where next for the holder of two All-Ireland medals, only the third Kilcummin man to claim a Celtic Cross?
“Eventually, he’ll make a fine centre back, because of his reading of the game,” reckons Counihan, “but I can see why the Kerry selectors are loathe to move him anywhere else. You feel very safe with him on the edge of the square. He’s good in the air and brilliant at beating his man out to the ball.”
In the unlikely event that both Kerry and Cork line out as selected tomorrow, McCarthy will face an unconventional full-forward in Brendan Jer O’Sullivan. And that will suit him fine.
“If Cork want to bring Mike out the field, they may live to regret it,” Counihan believes. “Then he’ll get another opportunity to show what he can do going forward. It probably suits Cork to keep him close to his own goal.”
“He’s a principled defender,” adds one of his Kerry colleagues. “He is not into fouling or roughing fellas up. But he’s very deep, minds his own business and does his own thing. He tends to get on better with the fellas who don’t talk too much. Whenever he goes for a pint, it’ll be to Corkery’s in Killarney, where fellas might be happy minding their own business.”
The GAA president, Sean Kelly, taught his fellow Kilcummin man in St Brendan’s and paints an image of a student that will be familiar to his football team-mates. “If every student was like him, teaching would be the most popular posting in Ireland. He did his stuff, never complained.”
Sean Counihan found a similar attitude at training in Kilcummin. “He never played the ‘I’m a Kerry footballer’ card, and always knuckled down with the rest of the lads. He could have said to me ‘look, we’re doing this with Kerry’, but he never did.
“I know he’s quiet,” Counihan says, “but don’t underestimate his determination. This fella doesn’t like being beaten.”
Not that he has much practice. The last time anyone can remember him getting a roasting was from Steven McDonnell in the 2002 All-Ireland final, and much of that was down to the quality of Armagh possession into the Killeavy wonder.
This season, McCarthy’s offensive contributions have been more frequent, and productive. He created a point for William Kirby in the quarter-final against Mayo, but realises his responsibilities lie closer to home.
There was one point early last season when he was considering jacking in the inter-county treadmill, but the Kerry selectors - minus the injured Seamus Moynihan - recognised how key their only ‘recognised’ full-back was. A year later, the transition appears to have been seamless, but McCarthy isn’t the kind to buy the pup of publicity.
“He’s still developing as a player,” Counihan reckons. “Kilcummin have occasionally played him at wing forward because they take his versatility for granted. But I still think he’d make a great centre half back.”
He may do. For now though, he’s busy preparing for the rivals across the border.
Not that you’d notice.
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