Keaney’s all tangled up in blue

AFTER they parted ways late in January, Pat Gilroy’s number was one of the last Conal Keaney expected to flash up on his phone.

But that it did the week before last. The conversation, just as it had been nine months ago when the Ballyboden St Endas man revealed he was switching back to the Dublin hurlers, was cordial.

The sales manager at the Avon Rí resort in Blessington, Co Wicklow, Keaney was asked by Gilroy at the last minute to facilitate the panel for an impromptu training weekend.

And so, over the course of the All-Ireland hurling final weekend away from prying eyes, the Dubs trained, arriving on Friday before going hard at it for the majority of Saturday and Sunday.

Situated on the Blessington lakes, Avon Rí boasts plenty of outdoor activities but Gilroy was only really concerned about two things — accommodation and the pitch.

“They trained a lot on the pitch, had a good few meetings and stuff like that,” said Keaney.

“In general, it was just to get away from everything and get back down to serious training again. We’re only 20 minutes away from Dublin. Usually lads when they’re staying in hotels can get claustrophobic and there can be a bit of cabin fever.

“But here they were staying in the houses and there were six in each of them. They would have been playing computer games like FIFA and they’d a few games of poker as well.

“Pat liked the fact they were able to mix with each other more compared to a hotel.”

Watching on as they trained, Keaney contemplated just what he was missing out on. But before his motorbike accident in July, his switch to Anthony Daly’s side had been an unqualified success.

“It was a tough call and it’s probably still nagging at me a bit,” admitted Keaney, who is only using crutches now as he recovers from the operation on his cruciate.

Thrice he faced Kerry during his seven-year senior inter-county football career and thrice he lost (2004, ‘07, ‘08). He doesn’t buy into the bonhomie made out to exist between the two counties. Sure, there’s respect but most of it comes from Dublin.

“I would say they see us as nice footballers and great for bringing a bit of hype to the game that they will but ultimately not as good as footballers as they are or as we would like to think.

“It’s in their genes but Dublin have as many good footballers as Kerry and are probably better athletes.

“It’ll come down, I’m sure, to the last 15 minutes. Dublin seem to pull through with their fitness in that period and they have belief in the way they’re playing.”

Keaney’s first taste of Kerry came in his first year playing senior football seven years ago but he concedes the attitude was wrong among the players.

“I was only new on the scene and was probably a bit overawed by the players I was playing against and the occasion. I was coming off a suspension with the hurlers and hadn’t played in a while.

“We were nearly happy enough to get where we got and almost knew Kerry were going to beat us. But that’s all changed now. Any time we went out after we felt we could beat the opposition.”

His last experience was the 2009 hammering, something which only confirmed to him how much Kerry love beating Dublin.

“The one thing that sticks in my mind about the last time we played them was just how much they were up for the game more than any other team we played.

“Colm Cooper got the goal early on but it wasn’t even that — anytime they play Dublin there’s always an edge to them. Every team loves playing Dublin but this Kerry team doesn’t want to be known as the one that loses to Dublin.

“Even though some of them have five All-Irelands, if they were to lose on Sunday they’d always be remembered as the team that lost to Dublin in the All-Ireland final.”

Speaking to one of the current players the other day, he said the hype before Sunday’s game is less than it had been for Leinster finals in the mid-’90s. He fancies his former teammates to do the job, which might have a detrimental effect on the decider as a spectacle.

As he explained: “People are saying it’ll be a great game but if Dublin have anything to do with it it’ll be a dour game and that’s what I think it will be.

“Dublin will pack the defence a bit like Donegal and try and get scores on the break but they’ll need more lads forward than Donegal had.”

Meanwhile, legendary Kerry defender Seamus Moynihan believes Paul Galvin will be in the starting line-up on Sunday.

The 2009 footballer of the year has been named on the bench but Moynihan argues he’s too important a player not to begin the final on the pitch.

“I think Paul will start, you just can’t leave a player of that calibre on the line,” the Glenflesk man told an ‘Out In Front’ podcast.

He added: “It’s vital for Kerry to get out of the blocks and take the game to Dublin.

“To open them up you need guys like Paul Galvin starting.”