Kerry's Jason Foley reaping the rewards after putting in the work

Foley knew it was going to take several years to develop the powerful frame necessary to be a commanding full-back

FLYING HIGH: Jason Foley pictured as AIB announces a five-year extension to its sponsorships of the GAA All-Ireland Football Championship and the AIB Camogie and GAA All-Ireland Club Championships. Pic: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

A marathon not a sprint? Jason Foley likes the analogy which neatly describes how he has gone about being successful with Kerry.

The 25-year-old was initially a sprinter, excelling as a teenager over short distances, and hurdles, and he even pulled on the green singlet of Ireland.

Then the Kerry minor management came calling and while the reigning All-Star reflected that there was no great decision to be made, he also knew it was going to take several years to develop the powerful frame necessary to be a commanding full-back.

So while 2015 All-Ireland winning minor colleague Sean O'Shea picked up an All-Star in just his second year as a senior, it was always going to take Ballydonoghue man Foley that bit longer.

Now here he is, seven seasons on from his senior debut, a specimen in the Kingdom defence and a player they will look to again in Sunday's Munster final against Clare.

"God, the difference in weight between when I made my debut and now would be fairly frightening," said Foley.

"I've put on a fair bit of weight, I needed to. I was tall and had the speed but I didn't have the physical strength to deal with the game even then so a lot of the focus over those couple of years was trying to put on size but trying not to lose the speed at the same time."

These days, Foley can go head to head with a man-mountain inter-county forward like Damien Comer and know that it is a fair battle, pound for pound.

"Definitely over the last two or three years, the strength and conditioning work that has been done with us by Jason McGahan and the likes has been very valuable for me," he said. "I think you kind of trust those powers that are there to get you right.

"I don't know was there ever a moment where I felt like, 'Okay, I'm there, I'm where I need to be'. I'm still probably trying to get there to be honest. Physically you're probably always thinking, 'I can improve'."

Raw pace was always a given though, something he developed while sprinting competitively during his years with Lios Tuathail Athletic Club.

"It definitely gave me a leg up, for want of a better word, in my footballing career," said Foley. "Do I regret stepping away from my athletics career? No. I made that decision and I knew that if I stuck at this route enough, or if I put my mind to it, I was confident in myself that I'd eventually make it to here."

The Special Needs Assistant in Ballylongford is an All-Ireland senior medallist and All-Star now with time on his side to add to his collection. Another medal is widely anticipated on Sunday.

Facing Clare brings back lots of good memories for Foley, like his senior Championship debut against the Banner in 2018.

"A lot has changed for both teams and they've definitely developed since then, Clare have become a big, big team in Munster, and in the country, so we're looking forward to a good test this weekend," he said.

Rewind back another few years to 2014, his first year as a Kerry minor, and there was a Munster quarter-final between the counties in Ennis. Kerry won that one 2-16 to 0-7 and defender Foley was paired off with young Clare forward Keelan Sexton. It is a head to head that could yet materialise again on Sunday. Sexton is in terrific form with 1-4 in the semi-final defeat of Limerick.

"I think I might have actually been taken off in that minor game, I didn't play too well," said Foley, replaced before half-time. "I think that was actually my minor debut so I was maybe a little green back then but I've learned a lot since and I'd like to think I've improved a small bit."

Should Kerry win, they'll be in Group 1 of the All-Ireland SFC with, probably, Louth and definitely Mayo and Cork. If they lose they'll be in Group 4 with Armagh or Derry, Monaghan and Donegal.

"It is a bit different," said Foley of the situation. "But as boring as it might sound, we've a game this Sunday against Clare in Limerick and that's the only focus at the moment."

*Jason Foley was speaking at the announcement of a five-year extension to AIB's sponsorship of the All-Ireland football championship as well as the Camogie and All-Ireland club championships.