Kerry boss defends omitting U21 stars

Eamonn Fitzmaurice has defended his decision not to include any U21s in his Kerry panel for the early stages of the National League.

None of U21 boss Darragh Ó Sé’s players will feature against Dublin in Croke Park this evening whereas last year a number featured in the February fixtures.

Conor Counihan adopted a similar policy in the league during his term in charge of Cork, and Fitzmaurice assured the U21s they will get an opportunity to stake senior claims later in the year.

“If the lads are good enough, they’ll be on the panel. Last year we had three or four U21s in the panel early in the league, but it didn’t work out. They are pulled and dragged at this time of the year. They have Sigerson and they are training with the U21s. So what we’ve decided to do is assess the situation once they finish their commitments with the U21s. Bar a major injury crisis in our camp, the U21s will stay with Darragh Ó Sé, which we think is only fair. If three or four of the lads do well with the U21s, they’ll get a chance later in the year.”

Fitzmaurice dismissed the suggestion they weren’t being selected because they weren’t up to the standard.

“I wouldn’t say that the lads aren’t good enough. There’s three or four of the guys on the U21s I have my eye on, but what I would say it’s all relative. If you take Conor Cox as an example — he came on against Mayo last year in the league and he wasn’t ready but we feel that a year on, he is ready. I also think some minors will be good enough in a short time, but I feel that it’s better to earn your senior status rather than be handed a place.

“We don’t need the U21s at the moment because we’ve got a solid group we’ve been working with and have 12 months work done with us and they need their opportunity as well.

“The message is that if a player like, say, Jack Savage does well with the U21s this year then he’ll be in with us for the summer, and then if he starts kicking the lights out in training he’ll be making the senior side this year.”

Fitzmaurice admits the player in him would enjoy partaking in the training currently being supervised by himself and Cian O’Neill.

“It’s a holistic approach — you want fellas to be able to enjoy it for as long as they possibly can. I think the lads enjoy the training, I think the type of sessions we are doing are very enjoyable, I’d love to be doing them myself.

“The demanding aspect from the lads’ points of view, I’d imagine, is when you’re in your smaller groups doing strength and conditioning work and having to watch your diets and go to bed early to rest and so on. But the sessions are fun and everyone seems happy with the way things are going.”