Kingdom still have a bit left in tank, says O’Dwyer

THESE days, John O’Dwyer sees his football through different eyes.

Not so long ago, he would be quite nervous watching Kildare play, at a time when his brother Karl was involved and his father Mick was still manager. And he would have gone to Kerry games with an open mind, looking to be entertained and subject to the same range of emotions as any supporter. All that changed when he became a Kerry selector towards the end of 2001.

In an interview last summer, he pointed out that he found himself looking at games more from a selector's point of view and that it gave him a basis of objectivity which almost surprised him. That was how he reacted when he saw Kildare lose in the Leinster final and set up an intriguing tie with Kerry in the fourth round of the qualifier competition. Father and son were on the opposite sides, but the fact of Kildare going under was all the more poignant for the reason that it marked Micko's last game in charge of the Lilywhites.

At the time, it was also felt that it signalled the end of his involvement in inter-county management for the foreseeable future. He had even hinted in advance that he would get involved with Waterville, his home club where John had trained at underage level after a back injury ended his playing days. However, former Laois star Declan O'Loughlin, a good friend of Micko's, had different ideas. Reluctant at first to take on the job, Micko returned with boundless enthusiasm to tackle a fresh challenge. And he enjoyed a level of success which exceeded everybody's expectations even his own! Because Laois and Kerry both went into the draw for the All-Ireland quarter-finals as respective Leinster and Munster champions, it would not have been possible for them to be paired with each other. In the event, Kerry advanced and Laois bowed out gracefully to Armagh, who had won the title for the first time last year by beating the Kingdom.

Understandably, this has given the Kerry players and management an added incentive to get back to the final this year. But John O'Dwyer says that this is not talked about openly. "The pain of last year ultimately hurts, but it has never been discussed," he said.

"You're only judged in Kerry on your performances in All-Irelands, be that what it may. But that is the reality, the criteria you have to work with." The fact of Tyrone providing the opposition in Sunday's Bank of Ireland championship semi-final in Croke Park doesn't surprise him in the least. It was known that the semi-final would involve the Munster and Ulster champions it would have been between Roscommon and Fermanagh if they managed to win the quarter-finals and from the outset the likelihood was that either Armagh or Tyrone would come through from the North.

"It's no surprise. We felt earlier on that we could be meeting Tyrone, Armagh or Galway if we were going to get through to an All-Ireland final," he added. "We rate Tyrone highly. I always felt watching them over the last couple of years that the one area they struggled in was at midfield, in not having a little bit of height. But Seán Kavanagh has really given them this bit of ranginess. From that point of view, I think they are a totally different proposition from what they were previously." From Kerry's perspective, he agrees that the shorter campaign has been to their benefit. And the circumstances of the win over Roscommon which provoked concern over the way they allowed them back into the game in the second half taught them a lesson.

"If you looked at it last year, going into the All-Ireland semi-final, we were delighted from the point of view that we had beaten Galway and had been reasonably happy with our form up to then. We can't say the same thing this year. But I just feel that from a long-term point of view, we have a bit left in the tank. And, hopefully, it will be there on Sunday! What pleased us most was that our forward play was cohesive. There was bit of a lapse of concentration at the end of the game which left in the three goals. Ultimately, it made us sit up and have a look at things From that point of view it was good for us."