Eamonn Fitzmaurice: ‘Even four lads playing golf put pressure on each other’

Kerry football manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice has defended the disciplinary record of his team, rubbishing suggestions that the All-Ireland champions play "close to the edge".

Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney recently described Kerry, alongside Dublin, as football’s “hardest hitters”. Not one Kerry player was red-carded throughout the league, with six black cards amassed across their seven games; proof positive, says Fitzmaurice, that his team does not have a disciplinary problem.

“I would have to say that our disciplinary record was pretty decent throughout the league. Maybe there was a campaign there for a while to say that we were cynical, but that’s up to us to ensure that when we are tackling, that we’re disciplined and that we’re not getting on the wrong side of the referee,” asserted the All-Ireland winning- manager.

“If you’re a back, you’re not trying to give away scoreable frees. If you’re out in the middle of the field you’re trying to dispossess a player legitimately. I mean, that is the way we coach it, and we would be hoping that manifests itself in games and we would be hoping we would do it that way within the rules.”

Fitzmaurice also dismissed the notion that his charges engage in sledging. He does not believe verbal abuse is a problem in Kerry, or, indeed, in the GAA at large.

“There are certain teams that do engage in a bit of it. I don’t think it’s a big deal, though. There was a couple of weeks there where there was a bit of it going on. I think it goes on in all sports. I think even four fellas having a casual game of golf are going to be trying to put pressure on each other trying to take putts and so on. So, it’s a bit of craic. I think too much can be read into it.

“There was this kind of portrayal that there was no sledging in hurling, but I don’t think that’s true because fellas are always talking to each other, but for the most part it’s casual stuff really and it’s not a major problem.

“However, if you go beyond a certain line or if you go into a fella’s private life, particularly if it’s associated with a tragedy, that is over the top and is not acceptable.” The Kingdom boasted the highest concession rate (9-90) of the eight teams operating in Division 1 of the league this spring and their defence for tomorrow’s championship opener contains just three players that started in last year’s All-Ireland final — Marc Ó Sé, Peter Crowley and Killian Young. Aidan O’Mahony and Fionn Fitzgerald are named among the reserves for the trip to Thurles, while Paul Murphy is omitted from the squad due to a shoulder injury.

“The full-back line will have a huge role to play against Tipperary. We would be disappointed as a group that we might have conceded too much during the league. Of course it’s an area of concern and it’s something that we’ve had to work on.

“(But) sometimes too much can be placed at the door of the full-back line. They have to defend and that’s their primary duty. They’re also only as good as the ball that’s going in and if you’ve got good players out the field picking good passes to players inside, it’s very hard to defend that. So we have to be very conscious of the fact that when we have the ball, we are attacking as a team and when we don’t, we are defending as a team.

“In terms of general preparation, this year, I’m hoping we’re a bit ahead of where we were this time last year. I think Portugal was a big help in that regard, we had five days together where all the fitness work was done and it was a case of working on football based stuff, which is the kind of stuff that I love working on. It was positive.”

Fitzmaurice earned his first championship victory as Kerry manager against the Premier County back in 2013.

“There are a number of Kerry lads who lost the Munster U21 final in 2010 to Tipperary, the likes of Peter Crowley, Jonathon Lyne and James O’Donoghue. In 2011, Tipperary won the All-Ireland minor and this year they were just beaten by a point in the All-Ireland U21 final, so they’ve a very good pedigree underage. We are not walking in blind into this game. We know the challenge ahead.

“We know that we can be inconsistent and when we’re not right we can be very ordinary and we can be turned over.”