Murphy delighted to be back in heat of a Kerry summer

WAS he expecting it? Certainly not.

Of all the things on Diarmuid Murphy’s radar last autumn, a return to inter-county football was not one of them. The previous January he had hung up his boots and walked away from his days as Kerry goalkeeper with a quiet sense of satisfaction.

He had been forced to bide his time as deputy to Declan O’Keeffe before getting the number one jersey in 2004. But after that he made hay, hoovering up six Munster titles, four National Leagues, three All-Irelands and three All Stars in a golden six-year spell.

Retiring from playing meant taking a step back and enjoying the role of an observer in last summer’s championship. The call then from Jack O’Connor enquiring about his interest in slipping into Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s role in the Kerry selection team was a jolt to the senses.

“I was completely taken aback”, recalls Murphy. “I had very limited involvement with teams in the past at club level. But it wasn’t a manager that Jack was looking for, it was a selector. I was very surprised.”

There were matters to consider. He would be charged with issuing instructions to former team-mates that he had soldiered with on the pitch in previous years. But concerns about friendships becoming frayed were not foremost in Murphy’s mind. The time-consuming nature of the job was the key issue to be addressed.

“The fact I have played with guys wouldn’t really have been a factor on whether I decided to come back or not. It was more a personal decision whether I wanted to dedicate the time to it because I knew it would be very time consuming. I thought about it for a few days but the more I thought about it, the more attractive the whole thing became to me. I was delighted to get back in.”

The range of responsibilities that the new role encompasses did catch him unaware. “It’s been an eye-opener. I was really surprised by the level of work that goes into it. Even in the organisational level there is a lot of extra stuff that goes on, that needs to be taken care of. Some things that you think would be managed by the county board are actually managed by the team management. But that has to be the case, as it turns out. It is early days so far but it’s working well.”

Murphy’s primary area of expertise deals with life between the sticks and he has sought to pass on the tricks of the trade to Kerry’s net-minders Brendan Kealy and Tomás Mac an tSaoir.

“They are two excellent goalkeepers. Technically they are most of the way there. The only thing that I would have to offer them is experience and I can pass that on, especially when it comes to the bigger days.”

Tomorrow Kerry sit their first championship examination of the season in Fitzgerald Stadium. Their unparalleled excellence saw them reach the All-Ireland semi-final every year between 2000 and 2010 but last season brought an odd sensation when their Sam Maguire dreams were terminated prematurely at the end of July. When it came to beginning preparations for 2011, Murphy detected a keen desire amongst the panel to get back to work. After an extended break from football, they yearned to return to the inter-county game.

“When you think about it, last year was the first time since 2003 that Kerry weren’t in the final. For the first time in a few years, the lads got the chance to step back from football a little bit. They enjoyed the break. The lads seem to have a focus and we think that they have the hunger.”

The panel’s mood may be positive but Murphy has been in enough battles with John Evans to make him cautious. He has crossed paths with the current Tipperary manager at club level and last April he was part of the bemused Kingdom faithful that watched Evans bring a Tipperary U21 team to Tralee and topple the home side.

“It was an eye-opener last season to see a Tipp team come to Tralee and beat Kerry in a Munster final. John Evans is a shrewd man and he’ll have the inside line.

“You don’t really know how your squad is until you get out on the field and get your first gut-check of the year. That’s when you see whether the hunger is there or not.”

Picture: Diarmuid Murphy: Believes Tipp boss John Evans is ‘a shrewd man’.