JACK O'CONNOR was forced into some major surgery after defeat to Cork in 2006 and now the task falls to the current Kerry management to address the multiple problems exposed in the team yesterday.

Perhaps it is better to be found out now when there is still time to fix some obvious problems at full back, midfield and half forward.

Granted, the half-forward line was severely affected by the loss of Declan O'Sullivan and Paul Galvin. Donnacha Walsh started well only to fade out of the match. A bigger contribution was required from Eoin Brosnan, and while Seán O'Sullivan worked tirelessly this proved the weakest line on the field.

Darren O'Sullivan deserves to start a championship match. Every time he comes off the bench drive and spark are added to the Kerry attack.

Tom O'Sullivan was always going to struggle against all 6ft 7ins of Michael Cussen. It was a complete mismatch that was never addressed even when it became apparent the pendulum had swung in Cork's favour primarily because of the full forward's second-half arrival.

An ideal ploy would have been to drop Darragh Ó Sé into full back and match physique with physique. Darragh, at the very least, would have broken the ball more kindly for the Kerry backs.

Another worrying aspect was the overall performance of Darragh. For so long now he has consistently been the main leader of this team but yesterday he became embroiled in a constant tussle with Pearse O'Neill, eventually leading to his dismissal. He forgot about playing football for long periods, to the detriment of the team. Séamus Scanlon is not one to rattle ball off his boot to inside forwards; that is one of Darragh's many weapons but such delivery was non-existent yesterday. Moving him to full back does sound like a drastic, even revolutionary, alteration but O'Sullivan's size will be targeted by every team in this championship.

Jack O'Connor took a gamble with Donaghy in 2006 and a similar extreme measure looks essential down the other end of the field in 2008.

If Cork had not dug into their reserves at half-time they were finished as a team. Another heavy beating - and that seemed likely as Tomás Ó Sé and Killian Young raided forward in the opening half hour - would have given credence to the theory that last year's All-Ireland final performance was in fact the real Cork.

But there is, after all, plenty of fight in this team. With confidence now soaring they must be considered serious All-Ireland contenders again. Several players like Dermot Duggan and Brian O'Regan made a name for themselves and the introduction of Fintan Gould and James Masters added to the already growing momentum.

The sight of a Cork team pulling away from Kerry will bring the supporters back for the rest of the championship.

The new voice in the dressingroom must also receive a huge amount of the credit. Whatever Conor Counihan said at half-time, it changed the whole determination of his players.

Tactically, he got it spot on, limiting Kerry's goal chances to just one - when Kieran Donaghy took full advantage (Derek Kavanagh will be annoyed for giving him the inside line). Still, Walsh's goal was a little against the run of play.

Leaving Graham Canty in front of the full-back line may not have stymied Donaghy on that occasion but it ensured the area Colm Cooper likes to work in was flooded with red jerseys. Considering the strong gale, Cork did enough to just remain in touch at the interval. I only hope now that Canty has not suffered a recurrence of his cruciate injury.

There followed the dramatic arrival of Cussen to do to Kerry what they had being doing to Cork - wreak havoc from high balls into the square's edge.

Kerry looked a very flat team in the second half. Complacency must have set in.

Cork's response in the second half was as fine a 35-minute display from a Cork team as I have witnessed for many years. To a man, they excelled. Every breaking ball was devoured.

The dismissals all seemed harsh and a reassessment of the way referees are viewing the collision zone is required.

Marc Ó Sé should not have received a red card, and a four-week suspension would be unfair. If a referee is going to send a player off there must be intent to take the man out. The collision between Marc Ó Sé and Seán O'Brien was unavoidable. Marc appeared to be using his shoulder to protect himself. He caught a smaller player high.

The extra qualifier games might suit Kerry, provided they are not paired with a trip to Tyrone, Meath, Donegal or Derry.

There is a huge onus now on the management to inject something new into the line-up and team mentality. The fluid movement, pace and assured passing long associated with Kerry football are not consistently evident. In fairness to Pat O'Shea, he can never be accused of lacking in the creative stakes. Changes are surely coming.