Kerry prince O'Keeffe fears for youngsters chasing 'physical' AFL dream

Former Kerry footballer John O'Keeffe in 2019 with his lifetime achievement award for football. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile

Kerry's ‘prince of full-backs' John O’Keeffe always worries for young Kingdom stars heading for Australia to join AFL clubs, in particular his 18-year-old Austin Stacks clubmate Ben Murphy, who is joining Brisbane Lions in November. 

“I think it’s a concern, to be honest with you," O'Keeffe said, at the launch of the Kerry GAA 50th Banquet, which will honour the 1975 All-Ireland winning team.

"I don’t envy them, and I would never try to stop someone going, but my fear is the injury side of it. Their game is far more physical than our game. In their game, if you hold onto the ball, you’re inviting tackles, because it pays to tackle in their game.

“When I saw Tommy Walsh coming back, and he wasn’t near the same player when he came back, I fear for someone as young as Ben Murphy going.

“He is maybe not fully developed physically yet. Hopefully that they would take care of him there, and that he would come back in one piece, and not to be wrecked from all the physicality of their game."

Asked how teams of his era would fare with the new rules, the seven-time All-Ireland winner feels they would have adapted well. 

“I have no doubt but that our team had the skill levels that you would require for the modern game, but also we had the athletic side of it, and the fitness side of it. We had players who were well capable of having the required speed, and endurance, and strength, all these fitness factors.

“It’s a different game now, but there was one thing about Mick O’Dwyer, and that was that we did an awful lot of kicking, accurate kicking, in between hard runs, or even in the warm-ups and that.

“There were always 15 or 20 minutes of catching, kicking, catching, kicking, with huge emphasis on finding your man with 30 and 40-yard kicks. That’s what you need in the modern game as well.

“You must realise that Micko had played at the very highest level, and was one of the best players, so not alone did he know about the skills requirements, but he also knew well about the fitness requirements.” 

The 50th Banquet, at the INEC, Killarney on December 5th, will also honour Kerry's four-in-a-row team (1978-1981) and three-in-a-row side (1984-86),

Chairman of the organising committee, John O’Dwyer, son of the late Kerry manager Mick, said: “We hope to raise a few euros as well for development in Currans, and also to celebrate those who are still around. We’re missing a few, as you know, Páidí (Ó Sé), Tim (Kennelly), and John Egan, who have passed.

“There are also a few chairpersons who would have been fairly instrumental when my father was involved over the years. They’re gone as well. We’re hoping that members of their families will be able to show up on the night."