Kingdom get serious for summer
It was a tricky league for the Kingdom, but Maher doesn’t foresee huge change in playing style this weekend.
“Kerry like to move the ball quickly and we will try to continue to do that and that is what we have been doing in training,” he said.
“I think it is vital in the middle third that if you have your hands on the ball, that you are dictating the play, rather than being dictated to.”
Around the middle of the field though, Maher has plenty of competition to contend with. “Games we have inside in training, the four of us around midfield, Bryan Sheehan, David Moran, and Johnny Buckley and myself, have been tough.”
Intense competition lends itself to strength on the bench, however.
“We have a much stronger squad this year and more options,” says Maher. “Even the training games, you see two fellows fighting for places in every position and the competition was probably not as intense other years.”
Maher credits the Kerry management with focusing on physical preparation during the league.
“I suppose during the league when things were not going that good, it was a tough call to train hard. But the management stuck with their plan, to train and get fellows into physical shape, and I think that is paying dividends over the past few weeks now. We are after getting to a good place and hopefully we can build on it.”
Kerry will be expected to dispatch Sunday’s opponents with ease, but Maher insists there’ll be “no complacency” in the green and gold corner.
“Definitely not. I think over the past few years, they have pushed us all the way. I think in Killarney a couple of years ago, they gave us a good game of it for 50 or 55 minutes before we pulled away but I don’t think there was any pulling away last year in Thurles. It was a tough day out, start to finish, so there is definitely no complacency.”
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