Tony Leen
JACK O'Connor has previous when it comes to left-field comebacks. He may not have needed to persuade Tadhg Kennelly too much to come back for the 2009 Championship, but the Kerry coach kept badgering Mike McCarthy until he caught him at a weak moment later that same season.
McCarthy's return was probably the difference between Kerry's 35th and 36th All-Irelands.
Convincing Eoin Brosnan that he still has a future in green and gold? Yep, there's merit in that one too.
Brosnan has always been a powerful athlete, and most effective facing the opposition goal. Kerry have issues at midfield and perhaps in the half back line, though I don't see much Brosnan lining out at centre back when Tomás Ó Sé is fit and able. Ergo, obvious solution for O'Connor, especially after watching Brosnan power into the Munster club final against Nemo Rangers when asked to rescue midfield.
I'm not sure Brosnan had given much thought to Kerry up to that point, but having had a chat with him before Christmas, a more relaxed, comfortable individual was easy to discern – certainly compared to the disillusioned footballer of 2008-09 who had enough of being the fall guy every time Kerry lost.
He was 28 at the time, but no-one was too shocked when he walked away. Not a natural scoring forward, he was going to suffer by comprison with some of his wizard colleagues and he got it in the neck after the 2008 final loss to Tyrone - not least with his club-mate Pat O'Shea in charge of the Kingdom at the time.
Time away has been well spent though, not least because he became a father, all his niggling injuries cleared up - and he got his life back for a while. After Christmas he was able to spent a few weeks with his wife Mary and baby in Australia - all the while keeping himself in trim for the oft-postponed Munster Club final against Nemo Rangers. "The body's in good shape," he confided recently.
From where Jack O'Connor stands, that was all positive. He still has Mike Quirke to come back - he too has just became a father to twin boys - but Kerry need midfiield alternatives and defensive cover. It was interesting to read Eamonn Fitzmaurice's perspective in our new 'Monday Morning at the Water Cooler' blog this week when he addressed the problem of replacing Darragh Ó Sé. "There is an impatience in Kerry to find a replacement for Darragh, Fitzmaurice wrote. "What people forget is Darragh did not become Darragh until 2000, when he was 25. David Moran is 23 and Anthony Maher is 24, so their age profile and physical development is getting closer to what is required to survive as an inter-county midfielder."
How quickly, though, is the question? Whereas Jack O'Connor waited until after Kerry's Munster Championship loss to Cork in 2009 to go after Mike McCarthy, he has acted swiftly on Brosnan, before Kerry's League campaign is even revved up. I imagine O'Connor has a midfield role in mind for Brosnan. He has a 'closer' already in Quirke, he has raw athleticism in Maher, and potential in Moran. What he doesn't have is another experienced hand like Seamus Scanlon, someone who can survive physically, psychologically and competitively in the high octane world of Championship football.
There are some suggestions that O'Connor has a No 6 jersey in mind for Brosnan. Presumably that's on the basis of beefing up defensive options. Mike Mac's gone, and there's no confirmation that Tom O'Sullivan will return. O'Conor may run out of patience with him anyway, before he does. Tommy Griffin has struggled injury-wise and there's a school of thought - not least from Mikey Sheehy - that putting the best wing back in the game's recent history (Tomás Ó Sé) at centre back is a mistake. Brosnan has played centre back for Crokes, but taking his talents beyond midfield from a deep lying position is fraught with danger come the summer heat. Either way, he brings experience and options to the table - and it won't harm his appetite that his clubmate and friend Colm Cooper is Kerry captain for 2011.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/3igLvwZ2tIY/post.aspx
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