DAVID CLIFFORD HOPES to see Jack O’Connor back on the Kerry sideline in 2026.

The Kingdom boss had hinted that he “might be passing the baton on to somebody else” in the immediate aftermath of his fifth All-Ireland triumph.

In the interim, Kerry GAA chairman Patrick O’Sullivan has spoken in optimistic terms about O’Connor staying on for another year.

Green and Gold star Clifford hopes that comes to pass.

“I haven’t really been talking to him that much in the last few weeks, it’s just been busy, but it would be great if we could keep it the same way as it was for last year,” he said. 

“I thought we had a brilliant set-up, so hopefully they’ll figure things out.”

David Clifford has been named the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month for July.

Kerry chair O’Sullivan has previously called for GAA action to curb the county’s players moving to the AFL. 

U20 star Ben Murphy is the latest to be linked with an Aussie Rules switch. Other rising stars, such as Cillian Burke and Rob Monahan, made the move in the past two years, joining Mark O’Connor Down Under.

Clifford, the PwC GAA/GPA Footballer of the month for July, was asked whether he’d ever come close to a change of codes.

“I didn’t really get that close. I wanted to stay and try and play with Kerry if I could, so I didn’t ever really get close to a move there. 

“Obviously, we want to keep our players and whatever about Kerry, it’s the clubs that it’s the hardest thing for.

“You’re developing a player for 17, 18 years and then for them to go, do you know what I mean? 

“You could never hold it against anyone personally. It’s obviously a massive opportunity, but it’s disappointing when a club would lose one of their main players.”

Clifford turns 27 next January, but he hasn’t put any thought into when he will reach his peak years.

“Your prime is different at every age. I always remember Michael Owen said he had his prime at 17. So I’m not too sure, to be honest.”

Reflecting on Kerry’s season, he agrees that the Meath defeat proved a turning point in their fortunes.

“We were disappointed. We were miles off it in terms of physicality and in terms of aggression. It just felt like we were flat coming into the game. 

“We let people down. We let our management down, we let the Kerry supporters down, so we were disappointed, but we felt that we were better than that, and we wanted to show that. 

“The written-off stuff came off the back of that Meath game. We were bad now against Meath, so a lot of that stuff was, not justified, but like, jeez, if we produced a few more performances like that, we wouldn’t have been winning. 

“You’re trying to feed into it, but it can’t be your only inspiration either.”

The desire to improve from the 2023 All-Ireland defeat to Dublin was another motivating factor.

“I didn’t have a great year either in ‘24, and then you just have to make a decision, not that you’re feeling sorry for yourself, but looking back on the ‘23 final and wishing it went better or whatever, you just have to move on and try and right the wrongs, and prove to yourself that you’re not going to be defined by that game.” 

Clifford got to enjoy a sun holiday in Calpe, Spain, before returning to action with his club, Fossa. His brother, Paudie, is nursing a hamstring injury, but Clifford hopes he can join him back in action soon.

“He’s not too bad. Hopefully, we might get him back for the quarter-final. We could probably do with him now, so hopefully he’ll be back.”