Crokes captain Looney tunes his side for final fling

THEIR side is crammed with players of senior intercounty experience but it falls to 23 year-old Brian Looney to lead Dr Crokes out for Sunday’s Kerry SFC decider.

When Harry O’Neill chose his captain at the start of the season, Looney was stunned to be the one handed the armband.

“It’s a huge honour. It is anyone’s dream to be captain of your club. At such a young age it’s great.”

With Colm Cooper and Eoin Brosnan alongside him in the Dr Crokes attack, Looney doesn’t have to preach too much to his colleagues.

“I wouldn’t be a very vocal captain. I’d talk to the lads beforehand and then do it on the pitch. But the good thing is we’re all friends, we’re all close, so everyone is talking. There are lads playing football for 15 or 20 years so they’re all going to talk.”

There weren’t too many rousing speeches after Dr Crokes semi-final victory over South Kerry, instead a wave of relief washed over the Killarney’s sides dressing-room.

“Having lost so many big games to South Kerry in the past, it was a monkey off our backs. Like any great champions, they threw everything at us in the second-half.

“So it was a feeling of relief more than anything to have got through it especially after we had such a big lead at half-time. A lot of very close encounters had gone against us over the past few years, but when South Kerry cut the lead the last day to three points late on, fellas stood up all over the pitch.”

Meanwhile, Austin Stacks captain TJ Hogan has paid tribute to the impact of intercounty senior stars Daniel Bohane and Kieran Donaghy on their run to Sunday’s decider.

“I think the big difference this year for the Stacks, was that we have got Kieran and Daniel back much earlier because of Kerry’s exit from the Championship.

“Having the lads training and playing with us for a protracted period has been a huge bonus this year and a big reason why we are in the final.

“It has been brilliant to have Kieran and Daniel around for team spirit alone. The younger players look up to them because they have won and performed at the top level.

“Having them for training means that you can work through the game plan with the lads there which is vital for us and them. Their presence has boosted morale in the squad.”

Hogan is one of the few survivors from the last Stacks team that reached a county decider, (losing to An Ghaeltacht in 2001). He’s hoping to call on that experience on Sunday.

“Back in ‘01 I was only 19 and I was playing with older players like Pa Laide and Denis Sayers so it was all very new to me. This year I am one of the older fellows and I would have to say that I think that we have a better balanced team this time around. We talked this year about progression from last year’s semi-final and our main goal was to reach the county final. But we are greedy now and obviously want to win it.”