Jack O'Connor bemused by Kerry's doubters after Cork win

IN THE HOTSEAT: Manager Jack O'Connor poses for a portrait during a Kerry football media conference at the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney, Kerry, ahead of the 2023 All-Ireland SFC final between Kerry and Dublin at Croke Park. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

All-consuming. When Jack O’Connor answered that Irish Examiner GAA podcast question after Kerry’s 2021 All-Ireland semi-final loss, that was the precise phrase he settled on to articulate the Kerry football tradition.

Did he still harbour aspirations of taking charge of his native county for a third time? Of course he did. There is an allure there, he stressed. As mega as Manchester United. It is everything down here. Every pocket of the county wants to chat football. 

“It’s all-consuming,” the then-Kildare boss declared. A double-edged sword he was desperate to wield.

Lo and behold it came to pass. O’Connor returned and wrestled back the crown. In Kerry, there is always another conquest. To defend Sam Maguire Cup has not been achieved by the same Kerry manager since Mick O’Dwyer in 1986. That is the challenge now.

He sits back in Killarney for the All-Ireland final press event like a general at ease. Totally at home.

Even as the call comes for the final few questions, he waves it away and lets the tape run. The green and hold hotseat brings pressure. The buildup to a Dublin v Kerry final heightens it even more. And it is what he craved all along. Still all-consuming?

“It is all-consuming all year round, but it’s particularly intense this week,” he says with a smile. “That was a ferociously intense game last week (Derry).

“I’m still tired after it and God only knows what way the players are. And then you don’t sleep the night of a game, at least I don’t anyway, and I doubt if the players sleep very much. So you’re tired the following day and that tiredness keeps going for a good part of that week and then this week there’ll be more demands than normal.

"(But) it's very enjoyable. I tell you, I’d rather be dealing with it than to be up the side of the mountain talking to my dog and regretting things we did and didn’t do last Sunday. It’s a good kind of tiredness. It is a great feeling. There’s nothing better than two weeks leading up to a final in Kerry. The county comes alive. There’s just a great buzz, particularly that it’s Dublin. There is great history between the two teams.” 

Gaelic Football Show Live from Killarney

Consecutive titles are a significant challenge. All the more so given the new format. Kerry came back to training late and targeted survival in the league. They progressed to secure their 84th Munster crown and were then turned over by league champions Mayo at home. O’Connor’s unwavering faith was examined then. It was a true stress test.

“It took a bit more planning and of people keeping their nerves. We certainly felt that some of the teams we faced in the league were jumping out of their skin very early and that they’d be fair men if they kept that going the distance.

“I think the Kerry thing was to keep our nerve when we were struggling in the league and just keep looking at the bigger picture. You’d always have faith that we’d come good. I thought the Cork game was a big game for us.” 

Not everyone else realised that. After that tie O’Connor was certain. They were back. 

"I was surprised even with some of the media questions I was asked after the game above in Cork. The media was still very doubtful about us, but we felt that was a big win, believe it or not. We didn’t shoot the lights out, but we got a significant improvement in our structure, defensively we were much better than we were against Mayo. I felt coming away from Cork that we were back in the hunt.” 

That is a theme. Keeping the faith. Eventually, they would reach their peak. After David Moran’s retirement and Joe O’Connor’s ACL injury, their midfield suddenly looked bare. O’Connor had a consistent message for Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Barry too.

“The story around Kerry all summer was that Jack would be ringing David Moran and trying to get him back because the casual observer was saying that Kerry didn’t have a midfield. I kept saying to the boys, ‘look lads, David Moran won’t be coming back, he’s retired. We have faith in ye that ye will come good’. We’re very happy that we have a good balance in the middle of the field.” 

Around the same time that Kerry were perceived to have become weaker, Dublin grew stronger. The band was back together again with their own cause. Captain James McCarthy as well as Stephen Cluxton and Michael Fitzsimons are eight-time All-Ireland winners. One more victory moves them clear of legends like Páidí Ó Sé, Denis Moran, Ger Power, Mikey Sheehy and Pat Spillane. Those five are also in the group with eight.

“You come back to win another All-Ireland and separate themselves from the pack of the five Kerry boys that won eight and the slew of Dublin boys who have won eight already. They want to stand out not just as the best team of all time, but also to be clearly among the best players of all time.

"Someone threw a stat at me that the lads who were missing last year had a combined total of 24 All-Ireland between them, that is fair experience to be bringing back into the dressing room, isn’t it? And God only knows how many All-Stars, so it would appear from the outside that Dublin are throwing the kitchen sink at this.”