THE six-week break Kerry have between the end of the League and their first actual test in the Munster Championship gives them an unfair advantage over their rivals, admits Kerry legend Tomas O Se.
The reigning All-Ireland champions complete their Division One fixtures against Galway on March 26 and don’t begin the defence of their Munster title until April 22 when they take on either Tipperary or Waterford at the semi-final stage. Since winning that game will surely be a formality (Waterford are bottom of Division Four and Tipp have taken one point from five games in Division Three) Kerry won’t have a serious test until they play the Munster final on May 7.
By that stage the Ulster, Connacht and Leinster championships will already have reached the semi-finals and, to further illustrate the imbalance, the winners of the Armagh-Antrim Ulster preliminary round game (April 8) will have played three times.
The extra down-time they are granted by virtue of the uneven provincial Championship system will benefit Kerry, says O Se. It will give manager Jack O’Connor time to nurse injured players back to fitness and get the Kingdom house in order for what O Se hopes will be another fruitful Championship campaign.
“Kerry will have a National League and they will have six weeks to Championship,” said the Kerry U20 manager.
“There are teams all over the country that don’t have that gap and Kerry do. Is it fair? I don’t think it’s fair but that’s the way the provincial Championship is and that is the argument that is always there.”
Kerry’s form in Division One this year has been up-and-down. O’Connor’s side have won twice at home but lost all three games on the road – to Donegal, Mayo and, last time out, to Tyrone. However, O Se is confident that all be well by May.
“I wouldn’t worry about Kerry,” he said.
“Kerry will be there or thereabouts again this year and they’ll be focused on getting themselves right for Championship.
“Then the argument is there: Is the Munster Championship as tough as Ulster or Connacht? Probably not in the last number of years it hasn't been so Kerry have a lot more time than other team around the country and they will have more players back.
“And Jack will have them right coming up to Championship so they will be there or thereabouts this year again.”
Meanwhile, having dipped his toe in the inter-county managerial waters as manager of the Kerry U20s, O Se says that legacy managers such as Mick O’Dwyer and Mickey Harte could be a thing of the past. O Se says the time associated with managing an inter-county side now makes the post extremely difficult.
“I think the demands are huge,” he said.
“You have certain fellas who like to organise stuff themselves. I’d be watching closely backroom teams and what’s in place. You have to have a big group and I understand why they have big groups now.
“We’d all be giving out about them but I understand if you don’t, you’re organising, taking up time on little small things… it’s hard on the head. It’s just the way it’s gone and I don’t know if you can row it back.”
Referencing Tyrone managerial duo Feargal Logan (a solicitor) and Brian Dooher (Ulster’s chief veterinary officer), O Se added: “I don’t know how you do it.
“It is a full-time job, an inter-county job. It’s going to get difficult. The day of the Mickos or the Mickey Hartes staying on as long...
“I’ve spoken to lads who wouldn’t go at it unless they had a career break. They feel they wouldn’t justify the effort in the time it takes.”
