O’Donoghue says closed door was key to Kerry success

Eamonn Fitzmaurice’s closed door training policy was a key factor in Kerry’s All-Ireland winning campaign according to James O’Donoghue, claiming the panel’s younger members benefited from a lack of exposure to their opinionated following.

“Behind closed doors gives the younger fellas a chance to not be very good for a while,” O’Donoghue told Radio Kerry’s Terrace Talk programme last night.

“If you are going training and there is a 1,000 people watching you and you are not confident because you are not that long in with the seniors, then those in the crowd are going ‘oh I am not sure about him’. You are better off behind closed doors and leaving young fellas develop. We had such a young panel so it definitely helped us. It worked for us this year.”