KERRY’S TWO-time All Star footballer Kieran Donaghy drew comparisons yesterday to the NBA when pointing out the potential benefits of the GAA embracing modern technology.

When asked an innocuous question about the state of Gaelic football, at a function hosted by sponsors Ulster Bank, Donaghy took the opportunity to champion the use of video replays to ensure this year’s championship isn’t bogged down by human error.

“The biggest thing for the GAA to work on is getting the big calls right. And that’s the problem most sports have. In the soccer it’s happening weekly. The big calls they are missing. For 89 minutes they are doing a great job and then there is a handball and they are missing it.

“It’s the same in our game but I suppose for players and managers and fans it is them ones that they want called right.”

Donaghy is clearly influenced by the enthusiastic manner superstars from professional American sports, like the NBA, have embraced media duties as a means to communicate with their adoring public. And to initiate serious debate about improvements in their sport.

“Obviously, I don’t want to go back into it but the Leinster (football) final last year was a major, major call that should never have happened. It is them ones that have fans ringing in radio shows for two weeks afterwards giving out.

“I’m watching a lot of the NBA play-offs now at the moment,” the former Irish basketballer of the year continued. “When it gets into the last two minutes of the final quarter, they can review any play. The refs review it. It’s not coaches, it’s not players, it’s not anybody else. If the refs aren’t sure, which happens in a lot of sports, and rather than just guessing, because it is easy to guess, but the guys who are training 12 months of the year can’t have you guessing to see if it is the right call, they come together, they look at the tape and can say ‘No, actually that is a wrong call.’

“And I love they are not down about making a mistake. ‘I made a mistake’ and it happens like that (Donaghy clicks his fingers). But they’re able to look at it and make a right call.”

Considering Kerry’s unsettled midfield, basically since Darragh Ó Sé retired in 2009, Donaghy admitted he may be required out around the middle this summer. “It’s a freedom I enjoy. If things are going stale you can go out and get your hands on your own ball.” But he is expected to be wearing number 14 on Sunday as Kerry open their Munster championship campaign against Tipperary at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney.

Despite growing up in a football -crazy environment, basketball and the Tralee Tigers was his first sporting love. He still meanders back to stories like the time he bunked off school to cycle 15 miles just to catch a glimpse of his hero Michael Jordan on the Tralee fairways or a recent holiday when he took in the majesty of LeBron James and others from the Miami Heat.

The 2006 footballer of the year would happily talk hoop dreams for hours (recently discovering the ESPN documentary Jordan Rides the Bus on YouTube) and told us about meeting ‘Magic’ Johnson jogging on a Florida beach and the few quid he laid on the Dallas Mavericks because of a grá for the Dirk Nowitzki story. But he remained just as animated when discussing another charismatic sportsman who shines closer to home.

Colm ‘the Gooch’ Cooper is the Kerry captain this season but Donaghy describes him as the team’s “silent leader” over many years. The telepathy between the two jewels in the Kingdom’s attacking crown almost engineered an escape route past Down in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.

“It was just unfortunate that I didn’t finish them off and the keeper made a good save. Even the first one when I missed it 99 fellas out of 100 wouldn’t have put it back in my hands again but he had trust in me and still did the right thing if you could see it.

“But not most of the mortals could see it. He might not be looking at you at all but I know he still sees me . . . That’s what makes the Gooch special.”

Paul Galvin, after nursing a pulled hamstring, is another that should also reappear in green and gold on Sunday, albeit off the bench, as the dethroned champions gear up for another championship campaign.

“We missed Paul hugely last year. He was back in training last Tuesday and was moving pretty well for a fella who hadn’t played in a month.”

A full court press is coming.