Jack O'Shea: Brian Fenton was one of the best players we’ve seen in our time

HAD IT ALL: Jack O'Shea admires a player who had it all as Dublin's Brian Fenton hangs up his intercounty boots. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Game recognises game, as the kids say. And Jack O’Shea has plenty of appreciation for the retiring Brian Fenton, a man who matched his seven All-Irelands and six All-Star awards.

The Kerry great has spoken before of his admiration for the Dublin midfielder and admits to being taken aback by the news on Monday night that he was bidding adieu to the inter-county game at the age of 31.

“He’s one of the best players we’ve seen in our time,” remarked O’Shea. “As his career went on, he became more commanding on the pitch and he was very instrumental in Dublin’s run of success.

“A lot of Dublin supporters are going to be surprised he’s retired. I’m surprised myself because he never got injured really or never carried serious injuries but he knows best himself and has obviously made the decision on his own terms. He owes Dublin nothing. He has been a fabulous footballer and a fabulous ambassador and I couldn’t but admire him, really.

“He had everything. His mobility, his presence on the pitch, the way he could control a game and he could read the game very well. He had natural ability with his physique and he would have been a very hard player to compete against.

“I must say every time I went to a game in Croke Park that he was playing in, I got great pleasure watching him play. How he behaved himself on the pitch and worked for his team. There’s no doubt he has been an example throughout his Dublin career and up there with the best who have played the game.” 

O’Shea notes the couple of strong games Jack Barry had negating Fenton like the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final, but more often than not it was the Dublin man getting on top in games against the Kingdom, the birthplace of his father, Brian senior.

“He was consistently good all of the time. He always turned up. The other thing I liked about him is he’s a really good down-to-earth, decent guy off the field. A real gentleman. I suppose the old Kerry breeding didn’t do him any harm.”

Meanwhile, O’Shea has concerns the Football Review Committee rule changes due to be put to Special Congress on Saturday week may not be feasible at club level due to the additional amount of officiating that could be required and where the quality of player is lower.

“We saw the exhibition games in Croke Park and that’s grand when you have top-class referees and inter-county players, but I can see problems when they are operated at grassroots level.

“Let’s face it, the game needs to be improved. It has struggled for the last number of years and it’s not a great spectacle but I’m sure managers will come up with ways to nullify it. At the end of the day, it will come down to how they put out their teams.”

O’Shea likes a couple of the rule changes and hopes to see more challenges for possession as a result. “The three men up front and two-pointer outside the (40-metre) arc are going to be good and we’ll probably get a bit more direct play. We have to get more of a contest back in the game because it had gone out of it.

“I would like to have seen the sideline kick from the ground reintroduced. Back in our time, most fellas could take a sideline kick but now it’s only the goalkeeper and the freetaker.

“The jury is out on the rules, really, and it’s going to take time before we see if they are really going to benefit the game. I would have liked to see them trialled at under-age level first and brought them on from there.”