Meyler rousing Kerry’s hurling passions

FOR their first Christy Ring Cup final, the hurlers of Kerry will play favourites Westmeath and if they’re lucky, they’ll have the support of a couple of thousand.

Because tomorrow in Killarney, the footballers of Kerry will play Limerick in the Munster SFC final and they’ll have the support of tens of thousands. The difference? Football is a countywide passion in the Kingdom while hurling is still very much a novelty.

With one notable exception, this panel is sourced from a small region of north-west Kerry. Travel up the N69 from Tralee to Listowel, swing west on the R553 to Ballybunion, and that’s it – with the exception of goalkeeper Bernard Rochford, who comes from Killeagh in east Cork, every member of John Meyler’s panel comes from a parish between those two roads and the Atlantic.