Kerry facing major challenge, admits Meyler

LAST month they were celebrating promotion from NHL Division 3A but today it’s back to basics for the Kerry hurlers as they face Down in the opening round of the Christy Ring Cup in Newry.

And the Kingdom boss admits his side face a major challenge up north today.

He explained: “It is, but the most important thing this year from our point of view was getting promotion to Division Two and we’ve achieved that, we’ll be getting a higher standard of hurling next year.

“Down have already had the benefit of that this year, they’ve had seven competitive games in Division Two where we had only six in Division Three, and that’s a major plus for them.

“It’s going to be tough, but we know where we stand now. We have to win two games out of three to qualify for the semi-final of the Christy Ring, and no matter how we do it, that’s the aim.”

John Meyler has a good record with the men in green and gold going back to 1993 and a famous win over Waterford in the Munster championship. That was as good as it got, however, and eventually they parted company.

Now, on his second coming, he’s a wiser man, with very definite ideas on how to improve hurling in Kerry.

“When I went there in 92 I had a core of very good players, the likes of Christy Walsh, Joe Walsh and so on.

“Then we had immediate success, beating Waterford in the Munster championship the following year, which kind of copper-fastened my identity, my brand – whatever you want to call it – in Kerry. That set the scene for me and gave me credibility. I went back to Kilmoyley in 2000, and now I know the culture there, I know the people. You have to keep going; there are ups and downs in every situation but in Kerry hurling you have to ignore the downs, you can’t ever throw your hands in the air and give up. If a fella doesn’t come to training, for whatever reason, you just have to forget about it, give him a call the next day and tell him – ‘right, that’s gone, come to training on Thursday night’. “You have to just get on with it, you have to remain positive at all times.”

And there are positives in Kerry hurling, the progress at schools’ and minor level, for example.

“There are,” he agrees, “But what you don’t see is the lack of structure at underage level. In Cork this week, for example, I was at Blackrock against Na Piarsaigh in a minor game on Monday night, then Glen Rovers against Ballinhassig in a senior match a few days later – you don’t get that kind of regular competition in Kerry.

“What people are seeing is the surface, but you must have regular minor, U21 and senior games throughout the year. We won the Munster Senior League with Kilmoyley in 2003 – that’s what you need, regular competition against some of the better teams in Munster. Causeway winning the All-Ireland junior was a huge plus for Kerry hurling, and the minors did very well in their two Munster championship games this year, but you must have a really strong club structure behind that to give those lads regular top-class competition, that’s how you bring them on.

“In places like Cork and Tipperary, fellas are getting those games, in Kerry, they’re not. I have a core now of 15 to 20 young lads who are absolutely committed, lads of 19, 20, 21, and they are the future of Kerry hurling. I’ve never had to ring one of those younger guys, they are all dedicated, they are always on time, always on the field ready to go. But what I’d like to see now is those younger lads going on to play Fitzgibbon Cup in college and continue their hurling education. At the moment we have only three, but you go down to the Mardyke for a UCC/CIT game and you see almost the whole of the Cork U21 panel – that’s what I’d like to see for Kerry. Until such time as Kerry have a strong representation at Fitzgibbon Cup level – whether through county board scholarships or whatever – you’re not going to be strong enough to play in the top division.

“At the moment though, Kerry hurling is about reinforcing the positives; this week, for example, I’m trying to focus them on the fact they’ve already beaten Derry twice this year, once in Derry itself, and Derry would expect to beat Down in the Ulster championship, so therefore there is no reason why we can’t go to Down and win there.”

KERRY (SH v Down): B Rochford; C Harris, A Healy, J Fitzgerald; J Godley, L Boyle, T Murnane; E Sheehy, J Griffin; J Egan, M Boyle, D O’Connell; S Young, M Conway, S Nolan.

WESTMEATH (SH v Derry): B McLoughlin; C Jordan, P Greville, A Price; J Shaw, A Mitchell, D McCormack; E Price, L Smyth; A Dowdall, B Murtagh, J Clarke; C Curley, P Gilsenan, D Carthy.