David Clifford showed us something brand new against Monaghan earlier this month, a sumptuous two-pointer kicked from the outside of his left boot after slashing violently across the ball.
Nobody we have encountered could remember the three-time Footballer of the Year previously using the high-tariff technique to grab a score.
Maybe it was the sight of Tom O’Sullivan spinning over two-pointers all winter that inspired him, or maybe it was his none too subtle response to Kobe-mania which had erupted out west the previous weekend.
Or maybe it was an early sign of the influence that new Kerry coach Kieran Donaghy is having, teaching old dogs new tricks.
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That is how it was for Stefan Campbell in Armagh when Donaghy, one of the greatest forwards Kerry has produced, pitched up in the Orchard County as a coach for the 2021 season.
Donaghy did not even need to watch Campbell in training to know how to improve him, he had already been doing his own spot-and-fix work while watching the forward on TV.
“I kicked a lot of balls up in the air, so if the balls were going over the bar they were dropping on the net and the ball would just spend too much time in the air,” explained Campbell, a pundit for GAA+ who was speaking at the launch of their 2026 schedule of games.
“He noticed that from even before he came into Armagh. One of the first times I encountered him, he corrected my game. Basic stuff, but he nailed it, ‘Keep the head down, get the full follow through’. Whereas you’d be maybe leaning back and trying to see where the ball is going first.
“That gives the ball more hang time and would be taking distance off your strike. That’s where I sometimes would have struggled. He noticed that straight away.”
Campbell was already performing at an elite level with Armagh and reminded us of his ability with the assist for the game-clinching goal for Aaron McKay in the 2024 All-Ireland final win. “Soupy” played that ball across to McKay off his non-dominant left side, a perfectly executed 15-metre left-handed handpass that few players have in their locker.
So for Donaghy to be able to improve a player like that was significant. Now imagine the things Clifford might be capable of doing in a Kerry jersey if Donaghy is able to similarly improve the Fossa phenom.
“Are they over-reliant on David? Obviously not,” said Campbell. “But if he can still go down there and improve him in terms of those back door runs, the overloads, the manipulation ... you know, the stuff that comes from engaging that basketball defence and how you manipulate it, it’s a scary thought.”
There is more than Clifford, of course. There is his brother, Paudie, Seán O’Shea, the Geaneys, all highly coachable players that will equally benefit from Donaghy’s input.
And it is hardly a coincidence that Tomas Kennedy, a target man full forward in the very same mould as Donaghy himself, has come to the fore in the Tralee man’s first season as Kerry coach.
If Kennedy does not have a big impact on Sunday’s National League final against Donegal, he will surely do so in the Championship.
“He [Donaghy] is huge for Kerry and the danger is, how much is he going to improve that forward line?” said Campbell, who retired as a player after the 2025 season just as Donaghy was wrapping up after five years in the north.
“It would be silly of me to say that he hasn’t shared the full [Armagh] playbook. I think from an Armagh perspective, we would have preferred if he’d taken a year out instead of going directly back home to what we see as a rival for the All-Ireland.
“But I wish him the best, he did a lot for us. He gave up a lot of his time for us and at the end of the day, he’s not only a Kerry legend but he’s an Armagh legend as far as I’m concerned too.”
Donaghy is only one part of the Kerry brains trust. Jack O’Connor also has the vast experience of Cian O’Connor, Pa McCarthy, James Costello and Aodán MacGearailt alongside him. What “Star” brings is his own unique approach. Go back again to that Campbell solo run and left-handed assist for the McKay goal, all performed at top speed.
“His big coaching point is that he does everything at match pace,” said Campbell. “His point was, ‘What’s the point of practising at half pace?’ Then you come out in Croke Park and time is very scarce when you’re out there. It’s about getting that ball out of your hands as quickly as possible but it’s also about having that technique and having that follow through, if it’s kicking, for example, and keeping everything aligned.
“The big players don’t have to think about that stuff because it’s so natural to them but it was great guidance for me. I wouldn’t just have been as natural as the likes of Rian O’Neill and Rory Grugan and these boys.”
