Quillinan not taking Stacks resurgence for granted

FROM the depths of despair in Kenmare in October 2008 to the joy of county final day two years on.

Wayne Quillinan has overseen a superb rate of improvement in Austin Stacks’ recent football fortunes, but that progression will be scant consolation to their manager if success eludes them in Sunday’s Kerry SFC decider.

“We got to a county semi-final last year, and that was great, but the thing that irked us a small bit was that people were saying that was a once-off and we were a bit lucky to get that far.

“We started training for this year last November in the gym and we said we would prove to people that we are a club on the way back up.

“It is exciting when you go down Rock Street and there’s bunting and flags and people are talking about it. But as a manager my job is to shelter the players from that and keep them focused on the game. The build-up is an occasion for the supporters, not us.”

Despite the low base they were operating from at the start of last season, Quillinan was enthused at the prospect of assuming the managerial reins.

“We all know about Kieran (Donaghy) and William (Kirby), but for the likes of Dara Long, Mikey Collins, TJ Hogan, I just felt their talent wasn’t being utilised as much as maybe it could have been.

“With the younger lads like Wayne Guthrie, Barry Shanahan and Denis McElligott, I’ve been working with them for six or seven years. It just felt right to be honest and there is a bit of a family feel to the team. The progress the team has made in the last couple of years is pleasing as a manager, but a lot of it is down to the application of the players.”

Meanwhile, Dr Crokes manager Harry O’Neill is determined that complacency will not infiltrate his camp ahead of the game despite finally having broken their South Kerry hoodoo in the county semi-final.

“People talk about it, the monkey off our back and you can put that in black bold letters. It was a huge thing beating South Kerry, because sometimes a team can have a huge psychological thing over another team.

“We have seen that in Kerry football — no matter how you go in, no matter what you try, you just can’t seem to get over the line.

“But I just cannot see the word complacency coming into this club at the moment. If we do that, we’re going nowhere. There were no cups handed out the weekend before last. Stacks have a huge tradition. Club-wise, I think there are similarities. They’re Tralee and we’re Killarney. We see ourselves as two big clubs within the towns, with fierce pride for the club and the jersey.”

O’Neill believes his players have managed to marry greater physicality to their natural football skills this season.

“We started it last year and in fairness it takes a couple of years for that conditioning to come through. It definitely has benefitted our lads, they are getting stronger. It’s not that we are concentrating on being a physical team, but when you’re in physical games, you have to be to take the physical aspects.”