O'Connor confident Kingdom can withstand Aussie exodus
Wednesday November 11 2009
He may have lost three key players Down Under since winning the All-Ireland in September, but Kerry manager Jack O'Connor is refusing to hit the panic button just yet.
The Kerry manager admitted that the departures of Tadhg Kennelly, Tommy Walsh and David Moran will hit his squad hard, but he believes that they have the depth to absorb the blow and move on to defend their title.
"It's a big blow but we will just have to get on with it now," O'Connor said. "I suppose the one thing about it is that we used an awful lot of players last year in the league and there will be a number of players now chomping at the bit during the closed season, hoping to get a shot at it in the new year.
"That's where the challenge is in it -- to rejuvenate the team and rejig it again. Look, I wouldn't give up the ghost at all. There are always a couple of players coming through in Kerry.
Mad
"Just looking back at other years, if you said that we would win the All-Ireland final in 2004 without Darragh O Se and Seamus Moynihan starting in the final, you would say that's mad because they were our best players at the time."
O'Connor is lamenting the loss of Kennelly in particular, after the former Sydney Swans star returned home for a year and returned to Australia with an All-Ireland medal. But he believes the half-forward's contribution to Kerry's 36th title was worth it's weight in gold.
"He brought a huge level of enthusiasm and I suppose the very fact that he did give up a professional contract to come and play football with Kerry meant a lot to the other players as well, because it showed how much winning an All-Ireland meant," O'Connor said.
"He brought a very professional approach and Tadhg obviously did the business on the pitch in a big way for us."
Kennelly's future on his return to Australia remains unclear after his former Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos denied reports that he was to offer the Kerryman a player-coach role.
"We keep seeing and hearing about all these reports, but Tadhg hasn't told us what he will be doing next year,'' Roos said. "When he arrives here, I'm sure we will find out more then. We haven't spoken at all, to Tadhg or his management, about him coaching.
"I did read the line about him coming back as player-coach. We've had some discussions with his management in terms of what he's thinking, but a role for Tadhg with us would be in the playing side."
- Ruaidhri O'Connor
Irish Independent
