Kickout king: Shane Ryan's need for speed is great

Ryan knows how to cool the opposition – as any right-minded goalkeeper does, he can take his sweet time when the opposition are in the ascendancy. But his swiftness of thought is clearly an asset. 

Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan during the All-Ireland SFC semi-final between Kerry and Tyrone at Croke Park. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

The chances of a score attempt equals kick-out time over kick-out won. An oversimplified formula, perhaps, but read on...

In the first half of their All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone, Kerry won just three of their 11 kick-outs. All three were kicked by Shane Ryan 10 seconds or less after the ball went dead. Two were medium-range kicks, the other short.

The first of the quick successful restarts ended with David Clifford dropping a two-point effort into Niall Morgan’s hand. The second of them, Clifford made no mistake and raised an orange flag in an attack that comprised three kicks. 

The final one, following a mid-range start, concluded when Clifford blazed a goal shot wide.

Only once did Ryan send out a rapid kick in the second half. With Kerry six points up and happy to take their time, Killian Spillane’s point attempt was blocked down after almost 90 seconds of Kerry possession.

Ryan’s speed in the All-Ireland quarter-final against Armagh was more noticeable as three kick-outs, all taking eight seconds or less, came one after another in the first half and all were claimed by Kerry.

The opening kick following Oisín Conaty’s first point went right and finished with a Conor Geaney shot at goal kept out by Ethan Rafferty. 

As Ryan slipped in kicking, Kerry were turned over for the next following a strong Armagh press and Ryan had to keep out a Tiernan Kelly strike but from it the Rathmore man was fast once more and Clifford was given another shot at goal at the other end.

Ryan’s sharp thinking was exemplified in the wake of Rory Grugan’s goal in the 29th minute, a score which was a result of Ryan and Dylan Casey failing to connect a short restart. 

Shane Ryan makes a save. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Eight seconds after Grugan found the net, Ryan had struck the ball off his tee. Twenty-two seconds after Grugan’s intervention, Seán O’Shea had responded with a point.

Early in the second half, Armagh had tagged three points without reply when Ryan injected some intent that concluded with a Dylan Geaney wide. After Rian O’Neill put five between the sides, he quickly found Jason Foley to his right and the team possession was crowned by a Joe O’Connor point.

Five seconds following a Ben Crealey wide, Ryan had the ball back in play to Paul Murphy and a minute later Kerry rounded off the deliberate attack with an O’Shea two-pointer. 

After Kerry’s power play of 13 points without reply was ended by a Rian O’Neill point, he chose speed again to find Paul Murphy and Clifford wrapped up the move with another two-point effort.

Ryan knows how to cool the opposition – as any right-minded goalkeeper does, he can take his sweet time when the opposition are in the ascendancy. But that swiftness of thought is clearly an asset. 

It also means he needn’t always be accurate so long as the opposition aren’t alert.

His hurry has shades of Stephen Cluxton. 

In the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final, Eamon Donoghue’s analysis found nine of the Dublin great’s kick-outs were completed in less than 10 seconds, the quickest being four. In the Division 1 final earlier that year, he was recommencing play in six seconds.

That wasn’t as possible the following year when all kick-outs had to be struck from the 20-metre line and Cluxton might have been slightly quicker up to the mid-2010s when ballboys were saving him the trouble of having to fetch a ball in Croke Park to get the action going again.

Before the 2015 All-Ireland final, Mayo co-manager Noel Connelly spoke of the potency in Cluxton’s brisk restart. 

“Most of their attacks stem from the quick kick-out. He’s the art of getting the kick-out off after three or four seconds. The ball is at the post and he has it back in play very quickly.” 

Ryan has a few inches on Cluxton. He trots out with his kicking tee whereas Cluxton at the height of his powers covered the ground quicker. Plus, Ryan’s promptness this season comes in the face of having to kick the ball beyond the 40-metre arc.

As Maurice Brosnan of this parish has pointed out, a proportion of Kerry’s kick-outs were largely uncontested in 2024. 

That is no longer the case and there is an argument to be made that Ryan now has the most difficult duty in his team. The need for speed is great.