AN EMERGENCY SITTING of the Donegal branch of the Continuity FRC convened recently to register its concern at a flaw in the rule changes exposed by Sean O’Shea’s visit to the Hills.
It was a meeting coloured by two shows; firstly the no-show of David Clifford which instantly deflated satisfaction levels of reversing their All-Ireland final defeat and, secondly, O’Shea’s super-show, which denied the committee of at least bleeding some form of gratification from dishing out the shellacking they felt was Kerry’s due for travelling so disrespectfully light.
“This two points for a free has to go. It is an absolute joke, when you have a boy tapping the ball over for fun just because of an honest to God foul,” ruled the chairman, to a nodding consensus along the line of high stools.
You kind of felt their pain, although ‘tapping’ was a gross under-sell on an afternoon when O’Shea kicked three of his four two point conversions off a chewy Ballyshannon surface and into the face of an iced wind, which demanded he swap his nine iron for the driver.
Sean O'Shea after Kerry's league game against Donegal. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
It made not a jot of difference, posts were split and, in defiance of Donegal’s absolute dominance, Kerry would not be shaken off their coat-tails, ensuring that if a four-point defeat ever shortened a marathon bus journey home, this was the one.
Strip away the hammed up begrudgery and, along with a sense that Donegal are moving on with a renewed sense of purpose, the marvel of just how good a footballer O’Shea is was the big takeaway for those at a jam-packed Fr Tierney Park.
The converted two-pointers was not even the half of it; in a group unjustly and cartoonishly framed as a one-man team, he came as close as is possible to giving that lie credence.
He was fouled for a Tony Brosnan converted free, set up the Dr Crokes’ man for another score from play, temporarily moved himself to the edge of the square to claim a mark, while capping it all off that with the individual score of the day, to find space where none existed to sweep over a point.
If his performance came with a blemish, it was one that could easily have been confused for a virtue. The loudest cheer of the day was when the excellent Shane O’Donnell, signposting the kind of aggression and ambition notably missing from Donegal the previous July, hunted down O’Shea on the edge of the Kerry square to force a turnover.
That O’Shea, given what he had already done on the front-foot, also chose to be the pressure release valve beggared belief.
Or, to those who know him best, perhaps not.
Since making his championship bow in 2018, he has missed just one of 47 championship games, last summer’s shock defeat to Meath, which left Kerry looking fragile.
When asked to explain away that performance in the aftermath of Kerry’s subsequent win over Cavan, Jack O’Connor started and finished with O’Shea’s absence, labelling him the team’s “spiritual leader.”
“Seanie will do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. In the Armagh quarter-final, when there was a lot of heat on David, he took on the mantle of scoring. In other games he can be the playmaker, the tackler, the fella who wins breaking ball, the one who goes back and wins a critical turnover, or a kick out, he links the play.
“I would have him up there with (Seamus) Moynihan in terms of inspiration and leadership.”
Sean O'Shea with Jack O'Connor after Kerry's win over Armagh last summer. Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO
Tom O’Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO
As compliments go inside Kerry football, that is right at the top of the blushing scale.
It might seem an odd observation to suggest that it took a league game in early February for a wider appreciation of just how good the 27-year–old four-time All-Star winner is, but in a way that is the inevitable price for sharing a dressing room with Clifford.
The pair have pretty much grown up as a double act – on the same minor winning team in 2016 they made their senior bows together against Clare in 2018 – and are as close to two peas in a pod as you will find, both exquisite footballers, steely of mind as body.
Of course, Clifford’s skill-set is on another level, not only unmatchable but also unexplainable.
But while O’Shea’s skill-set has more of the human condition about it – speed would not necessarily be his best friend – what he can do with it is no less of a marvel.
Unlike his twin terror, there is no need to conceal his iron fist inside a velvet glove, it is never out of sight.
On his debut in the RTÉ punditry hot seat, Conor Meyler was recently asked about his experience of marking him, revealing: “He is gritty. I can’t say I was overly fond of him when I was playing against him but he was someone I admired.”
Tyrone’s Conor Meyler clashes with Séan O'Shea of Kerry in a league game in 2023. James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
The Kenmare man carries himself like a man who fights fire with an inferno.
Beefed of body, tightly cropped hair cut and nostrils flared, you could be forgiven for thinking that behind Kenmare’s postcard facade, there has to be a ghetto paved with mean streets.
That competitive ferocity is what has established him as Kerry’s spiritual leader, but it is that right foot that truly instills fear into those who face him.
In championship football, he averages half a dozen points per game (7-257 in 46 games), but, under football’s new way that is a number that is likely to only travel in one direction.
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The two-pointer outside the arc has only served to weaponise his ability. In last year’s championship, he kicked 13 two-pointers, eight from frees, five from play.
If you include the league – and he missed the bulk of last spring with an injury – he has played 13 competitive games under the new rules and nailed 21 two-point conversions.
That is more – and Mayo most obviously spring to mind – than some teams collectively have managed in an entire season.
Some man for one man, but it can hardly be said that the two-point rule was the making of him.
A career with much ball still to be kicked is likely to already have unearthed its defining point.
In the final moments of the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final, he drained that clutch 55-metre kick to bring the curtain down on six years of Dublin dominance, in the process reminding that while kicks in the new game can have an inflated value, the ones that truly matter are priceless.
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Kicking game and ferocity set Kerry’s spiritual leader apart
AN EMERGENCY SITTING of the Donegal branch of the Continuity FRC convened recently to register its concern at a flaw in the rule changes exposed by Sean O’Shea’s visit to the Hills.
It was a meeting coloured by two shows; firstly the no-show of David Clifford which instantly deflated satisfaction levels of reversing their All-Ireland final defeat and, secondly, O’Shea’s super-show, which denied the committee of at least bleeding some form of gratification from dishing out the shellacking they felt was Kerry’s due for travelling so disrespectfully light.
“This two points for a free has to go. It is an absolute joke, when you have a boy tapping the ball over for fun just because of an honest to God foul,” ruled the chairman, to a nodding consensus along the line of high stools.
You kind of felt their pain, although ‘tapping’ was a gross under-sell on an afternoon when O’Shea kicked three of his four two point conversions off a chewy Ballyshannon surface and into the face of an iced wind, which demanded he swap his nine iron for the driver.
It made not a jot of difference, posts were split and, in defiance of Donegal’s absolute dominance, Kerry would not be shaken off their coat-tails, ensuring that if a four-point defeat ever shortened a marathon bus journey home, this was the one.
Strip away the hammed up begrudgery and, along with a sense that Donegal are moving on with a renewed sense of purpose, the marvel of just how good a footballer O’Shea is was the big takeaway for those at a jam-packed Fr Tierney Park.
The converted two-pointers was not even the half of it; in a group unjustly and cartoonishly framed as a one-man team, he came as close as is possible to giving that lie credence.
He was fouled for a Tony Brosnan converted free, set up the Dr Crokes’ man for another score from play, temporarily moved himself to the edge of the square to claim a mark, while capping it all off that with the individual score of the day, to find space where none existed to sweep over a point.
If his performance came with a blemish, it was one that could easily have been confused for a virtue. The loudest cheer of the day was when the excellent Shane O’Donnell, signposting the kind of aggression and ambition notably missing from Donegal the previous July, hunted down O’Shea on the edge of the Kerry square to force a turnover.
That O’Shea, given what he had already done on the front-foot, also chose to be the pressure release valve beggared belief.
Or, to those who know him best, perhaps not.
Since making his championship bow in 2018, he has missed just one of 47 championship games, last summer’s shock defeat to Meath, which left Kerry looking fragile.
When asked to explain away that performance in the aftermath of Kerry’s subsequent win over Cavan, Jack O’Connor started and finished with O’Shea’s absence, labelling him the team’s “spiritual leader.”
He expanded on that in a post championship interview in the Irish Examiner.
“Seanie will do whatever it takes. Whatever it takes. In the Armagh quarter-final, when there was a lot of heat on David, he took on the mantle of scoring. In other games he can be the playmaker, the tackler, the fella who wins breaking ball, the one who goes back and wins a critical turnover, or a kick out, he links the play.
“I would have him up there with (Seamus) Moynihan in terms of inspiration and leadership.”
As compliments go inside Kerry football, that is right at the top of the blushing scale.
It might seem an odd observation to suggest that it took a league game in early February for a wider appreciation of just how good the 27-year–old four-time All-Star winner is, but in a way that is the inevitable price for sharing a dressing room with Clifford.
The pair have pretty much grown up as a double act – on the same minor winning team in 2016 they made their senior bows together against Clare in 2018 – and are as close to two peas in a pod as you will find, both exquisite footballers, steely of mind as body.
Of course, Clifford’s skill-set is on another level, not only unmatchable but also unexplainable.
But while O’Shea’s skill-set has more of the human condition about it – speed would not necessarily be his best friend – what he can do with it is no less of a marvel.
Unlike his twin terror, there is no need to conceal his iron fist inside a velvet glove, it is never out of sight.
On his debut in the RTÉ punditry hot seat, Conor Meyler was recently asked about his experience of marking him, revealing: “He is gritty. I can’t say I was overly fond of him when I was playing against him but he was someone I admired.”
The Kenmare man carries himself like a man who fights fire with an inferno.
Beefed of body, tightly cropped hair cut and nostrils flared, you could be forgiven for thinking that behind Kenmare’s postcard facade, there has to be a ghetto paved with mean streets.
That competitive ferocity is what has established him as Kerry’s spiritual leader, but it is that right foot that truly instills fear into those who face him.
In championship football, he averages half a dozen points per game (7-257 in 46 games), but, under football’s new way that is a number that is likely to only travel in one direction.
The two-pointer outside the arc has only served to weaponise his ability. In last year’s championship, he kicked 13 two-pointers, eight from frees, five from play.
If you include the league – and he missed the bulk of last spring with an injury – he has played 13 competitive games under the new rules and nailed 21 two-point conversions.
That is more – and Mayo most obviously spring to mind – than some teams collectively have managed in an entire season.
Some man for one man, but it can hardly be said that the two-point rule was the making of him.
A career with much ball still to be kicked is likely to already have unearthed its defining point.
In the final moments of the 2022 All-Ireland semi-final, he drained that clutch 55-metre kick to bring the curtain down on six years of Dublin dominance, in the process reminding that while kicks in the new game can have an inflated value, the ones that truly matter are priceless.
*****
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GAA Kerry Seán O’Shea