David Clifford credits winter break for return to top form
Kerry's David Clifford was named footballer of the year for a third time on Friday night. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
David Clifford said a strategic break during the winter of 2024 into early 2025 was "a help" in finding the form which saw him named footballer of the year for a third time. After a busy time with club and county in previous years, the pause was crucial.
"Jack [O'Connor] and myself sat down at the end of 2024, we laid it all out on the table, really as to why it didn't go well for Kerry and for me, too," said Clifford.
"We decided a break was the best thing, but also it gave a chance for seven or eight weeks to do proper training because I hadn't got much of a chance to have a pre-season or to change my body much in the past few seasons because of all the club games."
Clifford called it a "strange year in a sense" for Kerry. They won the National League but suffered a heavy defeat to Meath in the All-Ireland group stage before going on the defeat Cavan, Armagh, Tyrone, and then Donegal in the All-Ireland final.
Jack O'Connor refreshed his backroom team late last year with Cian O’Neill, Aodán Mac Gearailt, James Costello, and Pa McCarthy coming on board.
"It brought a great freshness to the whole thing," said Clifford.
"People couldn't wait to get back, to hear and see what was going on at training. What way were we going to be playing? What way were we going to be approaching the whole thing? It was massively refreshing, and we were delighted to get the lads we did. We're thankful we get to keep on to the lads we have, too."
Clifford also thinks Gaelic football's new rules "brought a great freshness to the game".
"It brought people back talking about and watching the game. It doesn't leave a whole pile of scope for messing or delaying games or anything like that. Teams go for it. Teams have a crack off it.
"Probably when you see it this year, maybe you realise you actually weren't enjoying it as much as you thought the previous years, if that makes sense. When you were in amongst it in the old rules, you don't really know any different, so you don't think any different."
Stationed wide near the sideline in the All-Ireland final against Donegal, Clifford’s influence was anything but peripheral. He scored nine points.
"We had a game plan that we'd decided on and put a massive amount of time into," said Clifford.
"That brought a sense of calm because we'd massive confidence in the game plan. It was just about going out, executing it, then. Sometimes you're not sure about how a game is going to go or how a game plan is going to look and that can lead to shakiness in a game. Thankfully, we were all very clear on the game plan, we all had a hand in the game plan. It was just about executing it. That might've taken a bit of the pressure off."
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