Kingdom ace Kieran Donaghy advocates calendar year club season

Kieran Donaghy has backed calls to implement the club season into the calendar year, expressing concern Austin Stacks’ involvement in the All-Ireland series could cost him a place on the Kerry team.

The Kerry captain admits the “nasty reality” of an Austin Stacks victory against Derry’s Slaughtneil on Sunday fortnight is that he will miss the opening five rounds of the Allianz League.

“I would love to be out there in the first game of the league. When you were sitting down for as long as I was you would love to be able to play every game,” said Donaghy. “You have to give the team that is at the most serious stage of competition the benefit of the doubt. If this was vice versa, Stacks were playing a county league game and Kerry were playing the All-Ireland semi-final, it would be black and white what I would be more concentrated on. It is unfortunate. If they did (change the structures) it would be great because we wouldn’t have to be dealing with this. We could possibly have the club all over and done with and I would be looking forward to leading my county. I am going to miss two league games now. If fellas start well playing the first two league games, you could be fighting an uphill battle to get back onto the squad.

“It is the nasty reality of it (advancing to the club decider would keep Donaghy out of the Kerry squad for up to five league games) but, at the same time, as important as the league is, how much it is valued and how do managers look at it. The bottom dollar is when the big time comes in the summer, and Eamonn has proved this throughout his management, it is going to be the lads in front of his eye who are hopping off the ground, that are winning all the ball and are sharp, they are the ones who are going to get the one to 15 jerseys. That is the only bit of solace I can take.”

Donaghy is relishing the return of Tommy Walsh from Aussie Rules and Colm Cooper from injury. “I’m mad about Tommy. It’s great to have him back. He’s an outstanding talent and a great person to have around the dressing-room. He’s not in it for himself, he’s in it for the team. And he’s already shown us a bit of inspiration because he could have got another contract with another team and hung around out there making money.

“But he wants to come home and give it a real go. He’s shown that to us already inside in training. A selfish player might look at it that competition for places means there is no guarantee you’ll get a jersey. But I’m the polar opposite to that. Instead it creates a serious intensity in training. For the management it gives them an unbelievable headache which is great because in the early part of my career, whenever we won an All-Ireland, there was no fight really in the forwards for places the next season. You’d be saying ‘he’ll be there again, he’ll be there again’. And you might have one name or another who would battle for a position. But now you could have a situation where you start the Munster Championship with a completely different forward line.”