Mastering his own kingdom

Kerry SF Final: A year ago it seemed like Maurice Fitzgerald had written the perfect footnote to his great career. One of football's most iconic figures had finally won the only medal he lacked, and craved, by captaining South Kerry to their first county title in 22 years.

Although he had retired from the intercounty stage, the image of Fitzgerald being chaired aloft by his team-mates could have been lifted straight from a Hollywood script. Long immortalised, he could now retire as one of the true greats - complete with the most prized honour in the Kingdom.

Except Fitzgerald is not done yet. South Kerry have fought their way back to another Kerry final, and will defend their title against Dr Crokes in Killarney this Sunday. And Fitzgerald will be there, roaming the forward line with that unmistakable presence and grace. At 35, he may have left his best days behind him, but there's no hiding his enthusiasm to be the best he can come Sunday.

"Winning last year was a real high point for me," he says, "especially after so many years of trying. First of all there was the satisfaction of making the final, and it was a great reward to win it after a number of years there where we got nothing.

"But I'm certainly as motivated as I was last year anyway. And it's great satisfaction to get back again, because you could ask any club footballer in the country and they'd tell you this is where they want to be. The county final is where all club players like to measure themselves."

Playing with South Kerry seems every bit as important to Fitzgerald as playing with his native county did. It's sustaining his football career long after the closing date with the county, and given him fresh ambitions too.

His brother Séamus played with the last team from the south division of Kerry to win the title, in 1981 and 1982, just as their father Ned had done in the years 1955 and 1956.

"That's a good omen anyway. But I suppose there was more pressure on us last year, and we managed to master it. So no, I wouldn't say we're too surprised to be back again.

"Last year was a big breakthrough for us, definitely, but there had been a lot of hard work done by the divisional board over the previous four to five years, and that was bearing fruit. And I think last year we did produce some very good performances.

"But we're meeting as good a club side as you could imagine. Dr Crokes are a smart team, a very strong club, and have two of the best Kerry footballers at the moment in Colm Cooper and Eoin Brosnan. That's the challenge facing us. They're a true club, and have been training together for the past 10 months. We probably don't have the same understanding of each other, because we wouldn't get to train collectively nearly as much."

Fitzgerald's influence on the South Kerry team is still as strong as it ever was with the county. He last played for Kerry in the ill-fated All-Ireland semi-final against Meath back in 2001, and although there was an open invitation to return he never pursued it.

Some saw it as a premature end to a close relationship with the county, which he fell into as a teenager back in 1988. Over those 14 years he won six Munster titles, two All-Irelands and three All Stars and scored a total of 12-204 in championship matches.

A bronze figure of Fitzgerald was recently unveiled in his home town of Cahersiveen, the first sign of his enduring legacy, but he's always baulked at such unsolicited attention. The last thing he'll be thinking about on Sunday is winning any more admirers. He's there simply to spur those around him.

"This team has been through it before and know what the occasion is all about, so hopefully that will stand to us. And the fact is we did play our best game in the final last year, so we'll be looking to repeat that anyway.

"And Declan O'Sullivan is our captain this year, and I think it would be particularly nice to win it for him. Considering the year he's had I know the feeling within the camp is that we should try to do it for him, that maybe it would be some compensation for losing the All-Ireland.

"I don't know if we're a better team than last year, but Sunday will obviously tell. We know we'll have to be at our very best, and to be honest we haven't played as well as last year, not yet anyway. But then we've a very good scatter of players ourselves. The three players from the Kerry set-up have been an inspiration to the club - Bryan Sheehan, Ronan O'Connor and Declan. Bryan especially has been very good for us up front."

South Kerry get the pick of nine clubs in the division, with team manager James O'Sullivan also coming from Fitzgerald's club St Mary's. O'Sullivan is joined by Johnny Walsh, another St Mary's member, and John Teahan of Sneem.

"The managers are doing a great job with the team," adds Fitzgerald, "and since Pat Everett came as chairman of the divisional board four or so years ago there has been great work done. The fact that we're going for the treble on Sunday, having already won the minor and under-21 titles, says it all really. And I'd definitely put a lot of the credit onto the work of the board."

South Kerry have another former All-Ireland winner in full back Killian Burns, and Fitzgerald believes there is a healthy mix of youth and experience. In fact South Kerry are probably more heavily dependent on youth, and yet that hasn't stopped Fitzgerald's desire to play his part.

"Of course I still have the appetite for it. You need to in order to be at the races. We're lucky though that the divisional board is very strong at the moment. We have lots of quality players from the eight or nine clubs, and there's a very good appetite amongst them all.

"But still it's never easy to mix it. I don't want to go into the details of the training but I mean there's a great spirit in the team. A number of our key players are coming back as well, such as Aidan O'Sullivan and Denis O'Dwyer, so I think the panel will be stronger than it's been at any stage so far."

Win or lose on Sunday, Fitzgerald doesn't seem concerned about the mileage on his clock. As a divisional side, South Kerry don't get to compete in the Munster championship (Kerin's O'Rahilly's meet An Gaeltacht on Sunday for that honour) but for now there's no reason to look back, or forward.

"I don't ever make plans like that, and never look beyond the game that's ahead of me. That's the most important thing at the moment and that's all I'm thinking about. But I know we have the South Kerry championship starting a week later and when that comes around I'll look at that and take it from there.

"But I'm really enjoying my football at the moment, very much. As long as that love is there I've no reason to think about not playing. Obviously, if I'm not coming up to scratch that's another thing, but I'm enjoying it, I'm enthusiastic about it, and that's always the most important thing."