Bulking up Kerry: Molumphy says just quarter of Kingdom hurlers knew what to do in gym

The Kerry hurling manager says only 25% of panellists knew what they were doing in the gym environment.

Thu, 03 Feb, 2022 - 14:09

Eoghan Cormican

New Kerry hurling manager Stephen Molumphy has admitted that he could not get over the stature of Kerry players when starting out in the Kingdom and how so many were “not bulked up”.

Molumphy has revealed that when Kerry started back in the gym ahead of the 2022 season, only 25% of panellists knew what they were doing in the gym environment.

The former Waterford hurler has made physical development a leading priority during his time in Kerry, with plans to link in with the county’s underage teams so players become gym-literate from their early teens.

“We started back early in the gym, supervised and unsupervised, we had to do six weeks basically going through the weights and getting the basic applications right. About 25% of the team knew what they were doing,” said Molumphy.

“When I came down, I couldn’t get over the stature of a lot of the Kerry players. It’s a taller proportion of a team than I have seen in other counties, but it’s just the physicality, just not bulked up. So we have targeted that, but it takes time.

“We played the Kerry U20s the other night, we’re going to link in with them. And we’re going to meet up with the Kerry U14s all the way up to the U17s. That is a huge aspect. We need guys going to the gym at 14, 15, knowing how to use weights correctly, getting a gym programme, and building from there.

“I think they have it in the footballers, you can see it in those lads going out, and we just need the same application put into the hurling. Once we just link in more with each other and get a routine, it will serve them well for the next couple of years.”

Elsewhere, Molumphy wonders would other counties have kicked up about the three Limerick players in his panel had the county not scored a historic victory over Tipperary in the Munster Hurling Cup.

In the days following Kerry’s first ever competitive win against Tipperary at senior level, Offaly chairman Michael Duignan accused Kerry of “recruiting” players from outside the county and said the Kingdom had adopted a very “short-term view” by including three players in their panel that were not from the county.

Antrim went a step further by proposing the special eligibility rule afforded to Kerry be rescinded, but this was rejected at last month's Central Council meeting, meaning Kerry can continue to draw hurlers from other counties under the parentage/family rule.

Ahead of Kerry’s Division 2A League opener away to Westmeath on Sunday, Molumphy has questioned if there would have been any criticism of Killeedy’s Paudie Ahern and the Mungret pair of Louis Dee and Niall Mulcahy lining out with Kerry had the county lost to Tipperary.

“I won’t give more fuel to the fire, but I wonder would anything have been said if we hadn’t beaten Tipperary? Everything was in the rule book, and we’ll let the County Board deal with that, which they did,” said the Kerry boss.

Molumphy also said he loved water breaks and was sorry to see them go.

“It’s becoming more professional, in everything bar name, and they don’t want anybody going onto the pitch, like rugby and soccer, and you can understand that as well. When that doesn’t happen, they say troubles that happened before won’t happen.”