Tomás Ó Sé: This Kerry team is the most honest bunch of lads I've come across

Kingdom legend looking for his first All-Ireland title as manager on Sunday in Portlaoise, and there's the sense he'd love to achieve it with a special group of blue-collar grafters

KICKING EVERY BALL: Kerry U20 manager Tomás Ó Sé. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

TOMAS Ó Sé has described the Kerry Under 20 side looking to break the county’s 16-year spell without an All-Ireland at the grade as the most honest bunch of lads he has come across.

The Kingdom’s next generation face Tyrone in Sunday’s decider in Portlaoise (1pm) looking to chalk up a first title since 2008. And urging Kerry supporters to double up their weekend support of the county with the seniors making their All-Ireland bow Saturday, Ó Sé says those travelling to the final won’t be short-changed by the green and gold tyros.

“They have worn the jersey with distinction and a lot of pride and they deserve the support. It would make a difference. They are probably the most honest bunch of lads I have ever come across, there is a lovely mix about them. They will question things, they want answers to problems that will happen in games. They could even be more vocal but when I say they are honest, I mean they are diamonds. They train extremely well, they try to learn as quick as they can. They get on so well together and you could throw whatever you want at them, they could get bate or turned over, but they will work extremely hard, every one of them, to come back stronger. They will keep showing up for you.

“I have seen them play teams that might be better on paper but the boys will keep digging. They went four down against Meath last Saturday, and showed great character to come back from that. They just have good character in them. They don’t like throwing out excuses. We had quite a fractured group throughout the season but the last three or four weeks we have had a good run at things.” 

Ó Sé is looking for a first All-Ireland title as manager, in the same grade his uncle cut his teeth back in the mid-nineties with a pair of All-Irelands before graduating to the senior position. It takes a different skillset to manage under age players, and being a school teacher, and now principal, undoubtedly helps, Ó Sé reckons.

“I think being a teacher helps a lot. Like, it’s not as if they’re going out of their way to do something wrong. I think that you’re just trying to explain things and keep it simple. Do you call that coaching? You try to put a picture into their head and let them express it themselves. They need to understand what you’re trying to do and if they don’t then you’ve an issue. Sure that’s the case with everything really.

“You just have to keep it simple. We don’t have the time to get too detailed on things and the simpler it is for them the better. When you look at games, you could sit down at a table and dissect a game in ten different ways or you try to keep it as simple as you can, try to keep the message as simple as we can to them and then the focus can be on producing that.” 

The idiosyncratic nature of the Under 20 grade isn’t just about timing. Even at this stage, players are sitting exams, on some occasions on the day of games.

“There’s nothing you can do about it,” he said. “Colleges don’t understand that there’s an All Ireland semi-final on. Last Saturday, (wing back) Charlie Keating sat a two hour exam the morning of the Meath game so it’s not ideal. The Cork lads sat exams before the Munster final, which isn’t ideal either. It doesn’t matter how intelligent you are or how well prepared you are it still drains you.” Kerry are waiting on full back Darragh O’Callaghan who suffered an ankle injury in the Munster final, and Ó Sé feels his charges will need a good tailwind to stymie a goal-hungry Tyrone side.

“I don’t think we were near the best version of ourselves against Meath, but then you have to compare teams. I think Meath are a very solid team. They’re experienced, they have confidence so you could play very well against A and poorly against B and it’s not because you played poorly it’s because B are better than A. So you have to be careful with that. I think they got up for the Cork game. 

"There were parts of the game against Meath that wasn’t up to scratch and the players would be the first to say that and they were under pressure in the second half. We lost structure. We lost a focal point. We were making basic errors, we were losing possession and we were scrambling. How Meath, with the opportunities they had down the stretch, not take one of them I don’t know. Looking back they’ll be sickened, but had we lost that game we could equally look back at the opportunities we missed, both in the first and the second half. As the adage goes, semi-finals are there just to be won and to get over. We might have fallen over the line, but we are where we want to be.”