O’Neill’s ‘tough’ training keeps Kerry ‘focused’

Long-serving Kerry defender Marc Ó Sé has been singing the praises of Cian O’Neill, the Kingdom’s new physical trainer.

Ó Sé says O’Neill, who had stints with All-Ireland finalists Mayo last year and the Tipperary hurlers before that, is keeping the Kingdom “focused”.

Ó Sé admitted: “Cian is excellent. Freshness is important. He’s pushing all the players. Training is very hard, very tough, it’s only January but already the bodies are feeling good. The new regime is very tough but I don’t think there’s a team in the country that isn’t finding it tough. That’s what you want to do, to challenge yourself.

“He (O’Neill) has us focused – we’re on the McGrath Cup, he’ll step it up for the league, and again for the championship. We’re taking it game by game but we’re looking forward to the league. The game next week is important, and hopefully we’ll win that and get to a McGrath Cup final, and that’ll be a step up, playing county teams. It’ll be Division One in the league, then, that’ll be another step up, but it’s all geared towards out here (Fitzgerald Stadium) on Munster final day. That’s what we’re all looking forward to, but the national league is part of that process.”

Ó Sé added that the panel is doing fitness work together rather than in separate groups around the country. “We’re doing it collectively whereas before the west Kerry lads would have done it together, the Killarney lads together, the Tralee lads together — now there’s a sense, when you’re doing it together, that everyone is working hard together and pushing on the next guy. Maybe in previous years you’d be on your own in the gym.”

The Gaeltacht man paid tribute to the newer additions to the panel, adding that his own appetite for the game remains intact.

“They’re fantastic, the likes of Fionn (Fitzgerald) and Jonathan Lyne and Jack Sherwood, they’re all flying it. They’re working hard in training and it’s great they’re getting their chance to show what they can do. That’s why the McGrath Cup has been great.

“When the appetite is gone I suppose I’ll be gone, but it’s very much there. When you see other teams winning All-Irelands you’re only mad to get back training, to see the boys – there’s a long lay-off from August to December – to have the banter and the crack — and the hard work, which will hopefully lead to the big days.”