Maria Quirke’s case for defence

In Kerry’s Maria Quirke, there’s a new breed of footballer.

As a teenager growing up on the outskirts of Tralee, she spent hours on the pitch at Ballymacelligott GAA Club practising and perfecting her free taking.

Technically, her strike of the ball was very good having played underage soccer with St Brendan’s Park, but gradually she increased the distance of her kicks and before she knew it was kicking a 45 in the 2015 All-Ireland SFC quarter-final against Mayo on live television.

Hurling was more in her genes, with the majority of Quirke’s uncles on her mother’s side togging out in the code for the county, but football - and kicking 45s - is where the Na Gaeil player’s legacy lies.

Quirke shone at underage level, but it wasn’t until seeing the Kingdom lose the 2010 All-Ireland semi-final replay against Tyrone that the game really took a hold of her.

In 2011, she was called onto William O’Sullivan’s panel, and after making her debut in the 2013 All-Ireland quarter-final against Donegal, the 21-year-old IT Tralee Health and Leisure student had served her apprentice.

A forward for Na Gaeil, Quirke has played in every position for her county. After a back injury forced goalkeeper Edel Murphy out, Quirke stepped in between the posts. She’s also served at midfield and wing-forward, but wing-back is where she now resides.

“Any bit of a challenge and I’m up for it! I was always a forward but trying to break into the Kerry attack was never really going to happen.

“I was floating around in a few positions and wing-back seemed to suit. I’d like to think I’m an attacking wingback rather than a defensive one. I enjoy the freedom it brings.”

Growing up, Quirke looked to the likes of Bernie Breen, Lorraine Scanlon and Louise Ni Mhuirceartaigh, but in 2012 she saw just how devastating it was for them to lose the All-Ireland final against today’s semi-final opponents, Cork (Gaelic Grounds, 6pm, live on TG4).

“The heartache of it; you can’t forget that kind of stuff. For me, the occasion, it being my first time involved in an All-Ireland and seeing what the whole day was about, was overwhelming.

“But, that’s where you learn the most. I suppose just getting to experience that defeat stood to us over the following couple of years because we really stepped up our game.”

With Alan O’Neill taking over the helm last spring, Quirke believes that Kerry’s competitive streak has hardened given the depth of the county’s 36-player panel.

“It was always there, but we just needed to show it. Some of our training sessions, not just this year, but years gone by, the intensity was always crazy intense with tackles going in and players running through each other to get a ball. But, on the day when it mattered most, we never seemed to bring that intensity. This year, thank God, we’ve bridged that gap.”

The addition of Seán O’Sullivan and Kerry football legend Mary Jo Curran to O’Neill’s management team has also inspired the newer generation.

“They’ve brought so much to it. Mary Jo’s presence alone is huge. You really know she knows what she’s talking about and you take in everything she says because she’s been there. She’ll spot things that Alan, Harry (O’Neill) or Seán wouldn’t, and her brain for the game is just incredible.”

Having beaten Cork in the Munster final last month by nine-points, Kerry will go into this one as favourites, but Quirke is cautious.

“It’s not so much the scoring difference that’s in the back of our head, it’s that Cork are beatable. That said, we know they’re extremely dangerous and all you need look at is last year’s All-Ireland final against Dublin. That was something else.”