Fitzgerald to decide Kerry future in next two weeks

MAURICE FITZGERALD will decide on his Kerry future in the next fortnight.

He will not train with the Kerry team this week, despite speculation of an return to the county set-up.

“If he’s going to go back with the county and get involved this year, he’ll have to make his mind up fairly soon, he knows that,” a source close to Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald might be willing to return if he’s excluded from some of the more severe training sessions. It’s believed that, if all goes to plan, he will be part of the Kerry panel before the end of March.

The 33-year-old footballer has been training hard recently and has been running at the White Strand and the Brothers’ Field, near Caherciveen, almost every evening for the last three weeks.

“He’s in the best condition I’ve seen him in years. He’s really flying at the moment and I’d love to see him back, because he’s ready for it,” the source said.

Fitzgerald traditionally begins a rigorous training programme in February to get himself fit for the championship.

And the stylish Caherciveen footballer played very well in a challenge game against local rivals Waterville last Sunday.

County Board chairman Sean Walsh confirmed last month that Fitzgerald had officially been invited to rejoin the Kerry panel.

He was also asked to join the county panel last summer, following the Munster final defeat to Cork.

At the time he was injured and instead took up coastal rowing during July and August in a bid to improve his fitness.

This increased his upper body strength and he closed the year with a sparkling performance, including five points, in the South Kerry SFC final.

A string of impressive games in the county league and the intermediate championship led some to conclude that he was one of the best club players in Kerry last year.

But work commitments and his young family, coupled with the 82-mile round trip to Killarney for training, might still prevent the former footballer of the year from playing again for his county.