Kerry legend O Sé calls it a day
The Gaeltacht legend announced his retirement from inter-county football yesterday after 81 Championship appearances, all in the same centre-field position, and 77 as a starter. O Sé (34) made more Championship appearances than any other player in the history of the game, kicking off in 1994 against Limerick in Killarney alongside Kerins O’Rahillys’ Noel O’Mahony – the first of 13 engine room partners for the Kingdom.
Though the announcement – delivered in typically low-key fashion to his friend and colleague Dara O Cinnéide on Radio na Gaeltachta – was anticipated, it further underlines the task facing Jack O’Connor and the Kerry management team in 2010.
With Tadhg Kennelly and Tommy Walsh gone to Australia, and Diarmuid Murphy retired, attention will now turn to veteran centre back Mike McCarthy, who has yet to indicate whether he will return this season.
The Kilcummin man was only lured back mid-season after extensive efforts from Jack O’Connor last year, and his importance to the Kingdom is stressed by the fact that management seem prepared to have him back on the same terms again.
Said a source close to the Kerry team: “He is mulling over things at the moment, but I’d say if was to agree to come back during the summer, it would be fine. He’s that important to the set-up with so many players now retired.”
Last night, Kerry coach O’Connor added: “(Attracting him back) is a big challenge for us. There are doubts about Mike so that poses a huge challenge for us. But that’s also fun – rejigging the team and getting them going again.”
O Sé secured the last of his six All-Ireland medals against old rivals Cork last September, the first coming in 1997. That left him two shy of his uncle Páidi, but as a household, Micheal O Sé’s sons are able to boast a staggering 15 winners’ medals between them – six for Darragh, five for Tomás and four for recently-married Marc.
Said Darragh yesterday: “I’d done a lot of thinking over and since Christmas, and I met Jack (O’Connor) about it. I took the last fortnight thinking about it from the point of view of family, work and the body itself. There’s a lot of travel and time given over to Kerry, and the big problem was you didn’t have time to give to anything else.
“We have a young daughter, Ella and I’ll be able to spend more time with her.”
One of those medals was for 2004, when Darragh missed the final through injury. But he had a special reason for savouring it nonetheless – his childhood friend Dara O Cinnéide was captain. The injured midfielder was in the mouth of the Croke Park tunnel, peripheral to the celebrations. But they had framed that thought for over 20 years, creating it in cars and dressing rooms since they were eight.
In an interview at the time, O Sé revealed: “When I wonder about having desire now, I think of that. That was as good as I’ve ever felt in football. Hand on heart, I couldn’t have been happier at that moment. I had played my part, and a guy I’ve known a long, long time was up there ... we’ve been trucking along for years.”
There are several contenders to fill in for O Sé if not replace him. Kieran Donaghy, Micheal Quirke, David Moran and Anthony Maher are all contenders to partner Seamus Scanlon, the latter pair as raw as O Sé himself was as a 19-year-old in 1994
“There’s no fear of Kerry. There’s a lot of good players there, football is strong here at the moment. The big thing is that I’ve seen one or two young players come through for Kerry every year,” said O Sé.
Kerry coach Jack O’Connor said last night that the Gaeltacht man would be a “massive loss” to Kerry, and was ” a once in a generation footballer”.
“He has been a colossus for the last 14 or 15 years, right up there with the greatest midfielders that Kerry ever produced, the likes of Jack O’Shea and Mick O’Connell. That says it all about the man.
“I could see that he was 50/50 (about returning) and obviously it’s great for him that he is going out on top. But that doesn’t mean he will not be a loss to us – he will.”
O’Connor added: “Obviously he was fantastic in the air, but he was a tremendous user of the ball – his foot passing was right up there with the very best.
“Mentally he was very strong, nothing fazed him and I think that’s an attribute that younger fellows now who want to step into his boots must copy. He just played what was in front of him and mentally he was very strong.
“That kind of an attitude spread to those around him and in that regard he was a great man to have in your dressing room and a great man to have on your team.”
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