Kingdom revert to customary reticence

Gavin Cummiskey finds Darragh Ó Sé wary of media probing in advance of the All-Ireland final with Mayo.

Piseogs are held in high esteem around West Kerry. Never open an umbrella inside a house. Never rock an empty cradle. Never speak candidly to the media with an All-Ireland final in sight.

If you are ever fortunate enough to meet any of the Ó Sé brothers do not under any circumstances switch on a dictaphone. At least not during this purgatorial period.

A delightful discussion about An Ghaeltacht facing local rivals Dingle in a county championship replay, a mere week after Kerry face Mayo on September 17th, instantly dries up with a flick of the record button.

The eldest Ó Sé brother, Darragh, was joined by the youngest sibling, Marc, in Croke Park yesterday for the launch of the 34th O'Neill's Kilmacud Crokes All-Ireland football sevens.

Considering Dublin's failure to reach this year's football decider, to helicopter in such high-profile Kerrymen was a genuine media coup by Crokes' football chairman Pádraig McMenamin. He reminded us they were doing this for free.

Marc spoke to radio and television journalists, while Darragh gritted his teeth and gave the print reporters a brief interview. So short, in fact, the issue of Mayo was never actually broached. It was our next question.

So here goes, Darragh Ó Sé on the record.

What sparked the transformation for Kerry from mediocre displays at the start of the championship to turning it around against Longford and Armagh? "I don't know. A bit of good luck in the first place. You know, we weren't playing well. We worked a bit harder and it just sort of turned around. Sometimes things like that happen. We all kind of worked together and turned it around to an extent . . . "

Without breaking stride Ó Sé gives a qualification: "We would not be playing as well as we feel we could. We are in the All-Ireland final so we certainly turned it around. To an extent."

Training any different? "No, same as all the other county panels."

Has the tougher route to the final been more beneficial this year? "No. Every game is tough. Every game is different."

Was the Longford match a turning point? "I didn't notice much difference in training before and after the Longford game."

Last question. Kieran Donaghy moving to full forward must surely extract some insight on Kerry's evolvement this summer.

"I think Kieran is playing very well. He's young, like, and he is enthusiastic. Every game is a new game for him, but again he has only had two days out."

What do you make of Mayo? "That's it isn't it?"

After beating Armagh in the All-Ireland quarter-final, the Kerry management flung open the dressingroom door. Everyone spoke with an impressive frankness. They were equally accessible after the semi-final defeat to Tyrone in 2003 when Séamus Moynihan produced the best sports quote in years by comparing the midfield battle to "Time Square at rush hour."

A superstitious determination to give nothing away in the lead-up to the big day ensures the wiser heads restrain such pearls. At least, until the deed is done.