JAMES O’DONOGHUE ADMITS Kerry training sessions weren’t the most enjoyable over the last few weeks as they prepared for Donegal’s mass-defence.
The Footballer of the Year elect failed to score for the first time this year, but contributed handsomely to the win in a more withdrawn play making role.
“Yeah we were struggling to get ball on the 40 so I said I’d go out. We expected that because we trained with that system for a long time. I went out a bit and left the boys at it inside and it seemed to work for a while so we stuck at it. Look a win is a win and I don’t care if I was in the stand.
“I was far more frustrated in training for the last three weeks I can tell you that. Jesus training has been a mare getting used to it so I knew exactly what to expect coming up here but we got used to it and by the end of the last training session you enjoy it.
“You enjoy having to work out different things it is easy to stand in the corner and make a few runs but we decided to so something different and the boys did the damage inside.”
Similar to the 2012 final when Michael Murphy surprised Mayo by starting at full-forward, Kerry stationed Paul Geaney at 14 and were immediately rewarded with a goal inside 60 seconds.
“It was fairytale stuff because it was something we had worked on with Paul inside. It was actually Kieran Donaghy’s idea to put him in there for the first couple of balls up high and we pulled out because Paul is excellent in the air. It went in and he stuck it in the net and it was fantastic.”
Typical of the Kerry nature, O’Donoghue is already looking ahead to next year where he says retaining the All-Ireland will be paramount. With Colm Cooper expected to return from injury and talk of Tommy Walsh possibly returning home from Australia, it’s been some turnaround from the crisis days in the Spring.
“This sounds ridiculous now but we are not going for one in a row, we are going for next year. We are going to have a couple of players back and we are going to be hard to beat next year.
“People say crisis very easily we must have tried 60 players throughout the league and a lot of them contributed hugely throughout the year. We knew the league wasn’t going to make our year, it was all about the championship. If I never won a national league medal would I cry – absolutely not.”
Before 2015 comes around, there will be the small matter of celebrating a first senior/minor double since Tyrone in 2008.
“I think the county will be buzzing tonight and tomorrow and I’m delighted for the minors. I know a couple of the players very well and I know Jack – he gave me my chance with Kerry. So I am delighted for them and the homecoming won’t be too bad tomorrow night.”
