Life under Jack O’Connor couldn’t be better for Kerry selector Diarmuid Murphy and the four-time All-Ireland-winning goalkeeper says he didn’t need to think twice when the manager came calling last winter.
Murphy, who featured between the goalposts for Kerry in the 2000s, believes Sunday’s showdown against Galway will be the 11th time he has been involved in an All-Ireland final and says he is loving his stint back as part of O’Connor’s management team.
Murphy first featured as part of O’Connor’s backroom team in 2011 as a selector before continuing in the role when Éamonn Fitzmaurice took over as Kerry manager two years later.
Speaking in Killarney last week, the Dingle clubman admits that he didn’t need to think for too long when O’Connor returned as Kerry manager for the third time this year and is relishing the opportunity to potentially taste All-Ireland glory once more.
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“Pretty much, not a lot of convincing involved,” he said. “You can clearly see the potential in the group, there are a lot of fantastic footballers there, and when you get a chance to work with a group like that, I think you take it really because it might not come knocking again. It was an easy enough decision to make at the time.”
A lot has changed since Murphy first played in goal for Kerry under O’Connor in 2004. However, the Dingle man says he likes the idea of the shortened, more compact, intercounty season.
“This will be number 11 in terms of All-Ireland finals I would say,” he said.
“The most noticeable thing is the shorter year. I find it’s way more enjoyable, to be honest. I know there are pros and cons with it, maybe from a promotional and marketing side of it, but definitely from a management side, from a coaching side, the fact that you have so many games in a shorter period of time, it’s much more enjoyable than playing games with four-week gaps between them, which would have been the case the last time I was involved. I’m really enjoying it actually.”
The one thing that has remained constant for Murphy is Kerry’s hunger for success. And the three-time All-Star says that although Kerry have solved numerous issues from seasons gone by, they are far from the finished article.
But he feels the county has learned a lot after facing many challenges, and having been asked many questions by opposing teams so far this season.
“We’ve solved enough of them to win the games that we have won so far, which is all you can do really, just keep getting over the line, just keep winning your games, but there is work ahead of us before the game on Sunday week,” said Murphy.
“Really and truly, you look at the Mayo game that we played in the quarter-final, we were okay, we weren’t great, and it was enough to get over the line. If we produced that the last day, we would have been beaten, no question or doubt.
“We improved on that to the Dublin game, but we need to improve again, from the Dublin game to the All-Ireland final, to get over the line. And that’s fine. That’s the nature of the beast. You’re always looking to be better, you’re always looking to improve, we’ll be working hard to do that.”
Murphy has been impressed with Galway so far this campaign.
“They’ve had a very good year so far,” he said.
“Possibly looking back, it was a huge thing for them to beat Mayo in Castlebar, and they clearly grew from winning that game. The Armagh game then, I remember them saying afterwards that they could have won the game in normal time, so they have actually played very good football this year.
“They’re sound at the back, they’re strong in the middle of the field with the boys attacking, and they have good scoring forwards. Just looking at their semi-final, it seemed to be the case that they used the first half, maybe to suss Derry out a small bit and see what they were made of, and then they said at half-time that we will have a go at these fellas, and they won easily in the end to be honest. They played really well in the second half.
“They’ve had a really good year, they’ve a strong management team, and they’ve a strong coaching team with Cian O’Neill, who we know well here, so they’re going to be a formidable opponent for us. Damien [Comer] is direct, he knows where the goal is, and he’s going to go straight for it, and it’s up to you to do something about it.”
