Divisional success creates difficulties

GAELIC GAMES: SEAN MORANtalks to Dr Crokes manager Harry O'Neill ahead of Sunday's final against Cork's Nemo Rangers

KERRY’S STRENGTH as a football county has come about partly at the cost of club success in the All-Ireland and provincial championships, according to Harry O’Neill, manager of Killarney club Dr Crokes, who on Sunday contest the Munster club final against roll of honour leaders Nemo Rangers from Cork.

Pinpointing the prominence of divisional sides in the county, O’Neill said that whereas this had helped to maintain a depth of talent in the county it had also militated against clubs developing the experience needed to make a mark on the provincial championship.

Asked did he feel that the success of the county had created difficulties for clubs, who for the previous seven years have had their best players tied up with seasons that went all the way to the All-Ireland final in late September, O’Neill replied: “I don’t know if it’s Kerry doing well. The big problem is the strength of the divisional teams. South Kerry and Mid Kerry have won something like five of the past six county championships so the club sides that go forward to the provincial championship are often not as well prepared. If there was just the one championship it would be different.

“In Cork Nemo have been able to build up a tradition of competing in Munster but we’d only win the Kerry championship on average every 10 years or so. It’s the same for the other clubs. They haven’t been able to build up experience in the province either.

“I do think the divisional sides make the county team stronger because they allow all players to play in the senior championship.”

Divisional teams (with players drawn from all non-senior clubs in the division) aren’t allowed to contest the provincial championships, a prohibition that goes back coincidentally to the success of East Kerry in the very first official club All-Ireland championship 40 years ago.

Instead Kerry organises a clubs-only competition, the winners of which go forward into Munster should a divisional team win the county championship.

Whereas Cork also accommodates divisional sides in its championship they don’t enjoy the same success as their equivalents across the border. As O’Neill pointed out the system is an advantage for exceptional players with junior or intermediate clubs, who can compete at the top level within the county.

A Kerry club hasn’t won the All-Ireland for 15 years when Laune Rangers, under current Tipperary football manager John Evans, defeated Éire Óg of Carlow. Since then An Gaeltacht and Crokes themselves have reached finals but lost to Caltra and Crossmaglen respectively.

O’Neill also drew attention to the contrasting profile of Kerry clubs in the recently-instituted All-Ireland junior and intermediate championships. “If you look at our junior and intermediate clubs, who don’t have to compete with divisional teams, they’ve been very successful.”

That’s a bit of an understatement given Kerry clubs have featured in all four of those All-Ireland finals in the past two years, winning three, and this year they once again have taken the Munster titles at both of the lower grades and this weekend Crokes’ neighbours Gneeveguilla and St Mary’s, Cahirciveen contest respectively the All-Ireland intermediate and junior semi-finals.

Even with the success of Kerry in recent times, club success still creates excitement in a relatively large population centre like Killarney, according to O’Neill.

“It still does even though the facts are we have three clubs in Killarney: Legion and ourselves in the town and Spa just on the periphery. So it’s a bit different to a smaller town where there might be just the one club but you’d still see the effect, the buzz in the town.

“There’s huge interest because Killarney is a fantastic sporting town and Legion would wish us well even though the rivalry is still there.”

There was an unwelcome buzz though a couple of weeks ago with rumours that Dr Crokes’ star player Colm Cooper, whose early return to the club after Kerry’s championship exit in August has coincided with an outstanding run of form, had suffered a serious injury after taking a knock in a training match.

“I was away for the weekend,” according to O’Neill, “and while I was gone the place was going mad. The number of people who had him with a broken jaw was ridiculous. He’s recovered well and although we didn’t play him in the challenge against CIT, he’s been training away separately and taking a full part in training games.

“We were generally used to the Kerry players coming back off an All-Ireland final so they were coming into the county championship with relatively little done. With Colm you can see the influence he has on the other players; he gives a lift to everyone.”