Darragh: Kerry side yet to be appreciated
“Nothing is certain in life but people won’t have meas on this team until they’re gone, in terms of the All-Ireland finals they’ve reached and so on.
“The players have a great attitude and work very hard. I don’t doubt they’ll get themselves right and will be in the shake-up again this year. They’ve played a lot of football over the years but even in seasons when Kerry didn’t win the All-Ireland supporters should remember the great football they played and the enjoyment they gave.
“I remember 2002, when we lost the All-Ireland to Armagh by a point, but we played what I’d call Kerry football that year – good, fast football that I’d always remember even if we didn’t win the All-Ireland.”
O Sé was talking to Dara O Cinnéide on An Saol O Dheas on Raidio na Gaeltachta and admitted he’ll find life as a spectator hard.
“I enjoyed the games and getting myself ready for them. Going to big games in Cork and other places this year, it’ll be hard going and sitting in a seat to watch them, but there’s no fear of Kerry. There’s plenty of talent among the players – and the management. I had a good cross-section of managers myself, they all had their own ways and ideas and I enjoyed them all.”
In terms of opponents, O Se cited John Quane of Limerick as particularly tough when he was starting out.
“He was very clean but a strong, athletic player, and it was very hard to get the better of him, he was so committed. Ciaran Whelan of Dublin and Niall Buckley of Kildare were very good, so was Paul McGrane from Armagh. Within the county then you had William Kirby and Donal Daly when I was starting out, and Noel O’Leary of Crokes. Lately Micheal Quirke has been very tough.” Over 17 seasons O Sé has seen plenty of changes.
“There’s a huge emphasis now on the media. There are a lot of newspapers now, but when I started out there were only three or four. Now there must be a dozen. That means there’s a big focus on games now in the media, which puts a lot of pressure on players. Television is a big factor as well.
“There are other changes – there’s a lot of commercialisation, for instance, but if the game is marketed well that’s good. I’d like to see players looked after – and referees, they’re under a lot of pressure. I didn’t help them when I was playing, but that’s another story.
“There’s also been a big change in fitness. There was a time you could have a pint or two after a game, and that’s gone now. That could be a good thing but maybe there should be a middle ground on that. Speed is the big difference. You have to be fast now to play, and that’s one of the reasons I’m packing it in, I’m not as fast as I was.”
O Sé paid tribute to his old Cork adversary Nicholas Murphy. “Nicholas was as strong a player as you’d find. I played against him plenty of times and I’d say we broke even – he had days when he had the upper hand and I had my days.”
O Sé’s career highlights were 1997 (“Incredible because it had been so long since Kerry had won an All-Ireland”) 2000, 2006 and last year: “I was coming towards the end and we hadn’t been playing well. We played well against Dublin then in Croke Park and against Cork in the final, so it ended well.”
The low points included losing the All-Ireland club final with An Gaeltacht in 2005: “I had no luck as a captain. I captained two teams to All-Ireland finals and they both lost by a point.”
O Sé isn’t worried about Kerry’s footballing future, and will concentrate now on his club, An Ghaeltacht.
“I’ll play away with Gaeltacht and West Kerry. We have to try to stay up (in Division One) by beating Spa, and that’ll be hard after the year they’ve had. It’ll be different, heading back towards Gallarus compared to going to Killarney or Tralee to train with Kerry.
“That’s life. Everything changes. I’ll enjoy that. It’ll finish where it started, and hopefully it’ll finish well.”
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