Kerry show of strength piles on the selection posers for Jack O'Connor

Paul Geaney of Kerry shoots to score his side's second goal, under pressure from John Cooper of Cork, left, during the McGrath Cup final. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

For Jack O’Connor and his Kerry troops, the early season signs are as positive as could be hoped for.

A 16-day January window that saw Limerick, Tipperary, and Cork walloped by an aggregate total of 55 points culminated on Saturday afternoon in a first McGrath Cup title since 2017.

But more than the silverware so comfortably collected, Saturday’s final thumping of Cork, following as it did the earlier 22- and 21-point hammerings of Limerick and Tipp, leaves Kerry in pretty robust health — albeit untested — heading into the League.

Pre-season competitions such as the McGrath Cup provide prime opportunity for experimentation and the blooding of fresh faces. But outside of the opening night against Limerick when five debutants featured, the Kerry management have done next to no trialling of unproven newcomers these past two and a half weeks. Clearly favoured, at the expense of experimentation, has been the putting out of strong team after strong team after strong team.

Loading the Kerry line-up with championship starters for a pre-season competition could be looked upon as unnecessary and excessive, but what this early-season show of strength has achieved is a clamour for starting berths ahead of their League opener that is as congested as the Lewis Road turnstiles approaching 2pm last Saturday.

David Clifford and Jack Savage both kicked a pair of points when introduced at Fitzgerald Stadium. Were they to earn promotion to the starting team for Sunday’s clash against Kildare, then two from Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Stephen O’Brien, Tony Brosnan, Paul Geaney, and Killian Spillane will have to make way. And that’s without factoring in Dara Moynihan who is expected to return from injury for the Newbridge trip.

Such fierce competition for places, right from the very first whistle this season, is exactly what Jack has sought to create.

“You have to get the balance right too,” explained the Kerry manager. “You don’t want fellas quaking in their boots and looking over their shoulder either, but you certainly have to keep fellas on their toes. I think we have good competition now right throughout.”

One of those trying to reclaim a starting berth is Tadhg Morley, the Templenoe defender having been used off the bench throughout the 2021 campaign.

Morley was at centre-back in an organised Kerry defensive effort over the weekend, only two of Cork’s front eight managing to write their names onto the scoresheet. Indeed, aside from Brian Hurley, no other Cork player succeeded in asking a single hard question of the Kerry defence.

The Kingdom’s green and gold wall repeatedly forced Cork back and forth across the 45-metre line, with possession eventually lost through one of the many unforced errors Keith Ricken’s side made or a hit and hope inside to Hurley that did not find its intended target.

“I know from last year that if you are out of the team for a small bit, it is hard to get back in. Every training session was like an All-Ireland for me last year trying to get back on the team,” Morley admitted.

There was no mirroring of Kerry’s defensive solidity at the other end of the field as Tom O’Sullivan and the lively Paul Geaney skipped inside the Cork cover to net first-half goals.

And in all honesty, Kerry’s first-half goal count should have been double what it was at the break as Geaney smashed a low effort against the post, while later in the half, Brosnan handled possession on the ground when Kerry had an extra man inside.

Geaney’s 32nd-minute green flag was part of an unanswered 1-4 that took the home side from three to 10 clear at the break. Their lead was greatest when kicking six without reply in the third quarter to stand 2-15 to 0-6 clear on 51 minutes. And were it not for a couple of outstanding Míchéal Martin second-half saves, Kerry’s final winning margin would have been much closer to last July’s 22-point Munster final difference.

“Anything you are doing in life, it is about confidence and a feeling of positivity and momentum, and I think we have a bit of that,” remarked O’Connor.

“There is a good feeling in the dressing room, they are showing a tremendous attitude. They are all pushing each other and we are just trying to keep pushing the standard and see where that will take us.”