Kerry captains Seán O'Shea, left, and Joe O'Connor lifts the Sam Maguire cup after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Kerry and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
This is the time of year that inter-county managers want fringe players to put their hands up for selection and show they’re genuine contenders for a starting place come championship.
Joe O’Connor has certainly done that for Kerry with some strong performances in the McGrath Cup and first two rounds of the Allianz Football League.
He was Kerry team captain in 2021 but saw very limited action in the championship and missed last year’s campaign with a ruptured cruciate, but now looks like he’s ready to really establish himself this year.
Seán O’Shea knows a thing or two about midfield play himself and has been delighted with the impact his team-mate has made so far this year.
“It's great to have Joe back this year,” said O’Shea, when announced yesterday as the GAA’s Ambasadóir na Gaeilge for 2024.
“You've seen with the cruciate injury before, it's a long old process. Jeez, he worked so hard away on his own to get himself into unbelievable shape. He did everything by the book, and more.
“So it's great to see that then. Like, a lot of fellas will do that and they won't make it back, they might get another injury or something might go wrong in the rehab process.
“It's great for Joe and it's great for us as a group. He's a great character and a great fella to have around. He brings really positive energy around the group so we're delighted to have him back. It's great that after all the hard work he did put in that he's back and it's great to see him.”
O’Connor’s encouraging form all the more welcome for Kerry considering they’ll be without experienced midfielder, Jack Barry, for the season after he decided to take a year out from inter-county football.
Kerry footballer Seán O’Shea who was appointed GAA’s Ambasadóir na Gaeilge for 2024 at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Matt Browne/Sportsfile.
That left Kerry looking light on options in the engine-room, but O’Shea isn’t inclined to agree midfield is a potential weak spot in their team.
“No, I don't think so,” he said. “I think our midfield is quite strong. We'd back our midfields to compete against any of the midfields in the country.
“So it's an area that we feel we're well equipped to take on any team really in the middle of the field. There are some great lads there.
“I suppose at the moment you're kind of looking at Diarmuid (O'Connor), you're looking at Joe, you're looking at Barry Dan (O'Sullivan), you have Sean O'Brien, you have Adrian Spillane who played there.
“There's a few other different fellas who can go in there on a given day as well. So we're well stocked in that department.”
Their midfield will certainly be stress-tested on Saturday against Mayo in Round 3 of the Allianz Football League.
Kerry were well-beaten at home in the All-Ireland SFC group stage by Mayo last year, and the defining characteristic of that match was the Connacht team’s dominance in the middle third.
Seán O'Shea of Kerry and Aidan O'Shea of Mayo tussle during the 2023 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Round 1 match between Kerry and Mayo at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney, Kerry. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
O’Shea knows that if Kerry are to turn the tables in Austin Stack Park this weekend they’ll need to match Mayo’s work-rate in that crucial war-zone.
“They’re so tough to play against because they work so hard,” he says.
“They’re honest as the day is long. You know they’re going to be really working, really tackling, trying to turn you over, putting pressure on out the field.
“They’re really relentless in their work rate. That’s one of their key hallmarks. So you know when you go out against Mayo it’s going to be a really tough test. It’s a good challenge to be looking forward to.”
O’Shea is now in his seventh year of senior inter-county championship and a leading figure in a very talented generation of players that, so far, have only managed to win one All-Ireland title.
There is a lot of pressure on them to add to that 2022 success from an expectant Kerry public, but O’Shea wouldn’t have it any other way.
“You have to use it as a positive thing,” he says. “You’re representing the county at the end of the day. We were up in Monaghan there last week and the Kerry supporters were there when you came out of the dressing room at the end of the game.
“You know the faces that are there week in, week in. You see them below in Tralee. The game is at half seven, they’ll probably be there at half four outside the ground.
“They’re die hard, real good Kerry people. You have to enjoy that as well and you have to embrace it as well. It’s their team as much as it’s our team. You’re just the lucky one wearing the jersey, representing the county.
“But it’s not the players who are playing – you’re representing the whole county. That’s one of the best things about the GAA.”