David Moran does not believe there is a danger of Kerry looking beyond Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final against Derry.
Jack O’Connor’s side remain on course to retain the Sam Maguire and enter their last four clash with the Ulster champions as favourites. However, Moran says his former colleagues will not be planning the logistics around All-Ireland final day yet.
“I have no concern over Kerry taking Derry for granted,” says Moran. “I have a lot more concern over how it’s difficult to play against them. Derry are a very good side, they have a couple of very good forwards, they’re strong around the middle and they’ve a very good game plan.
“Derry have been the best team in Ulster over the last couple of years, they got through Cork probably easier than we did. Your eyes are open entering this game, I don’t think they’re going to get caught on the hop. I think the Kerry boys will be very tuned in, they’ll be very aware of Derry’s challenge.”
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Moran, who made his senior Kerry debut in 2008, announced his intercounty retirement in January. He admits it has been ‘strange’ going to watch the Kingdom in action this season but the three-time All-Ireland winner is content with his decision.
“I met with Jack, we thrashed it out and he just asked was there a bit more in me. You know, at the end of the day, it wasn’t fully just a football decision,” explains Moran.
“We had a young baby and a second one on the way in February, I was busy at work, which I was keen to really get behind.
“He did say to me unless you were 100 per cent in here at your age it’s not going to work. I just weighed it up. You think of the best-case scenarios and as much as I’d love to be in the Hogan Stand on the day of the All-Ireland final, it’s not as simple as just fast-forwarding to that.
“There’s an awful lot of work that has to go in and there’s a lot of ups and downs. Last year, I was very lucky with injuries. I managed to keep injury-free and obviously I haven’t a great history of that. I’m 35 this year, was I going to physically compete.
“I need to be on the training field and when I weighed it up, I just wasn’t sure I was going to be able to do everything.
“On balance, it was just the right decision for me. Will I have regrets if Kerry go on and win the All-Ireland? I don’t think I’ll have regrets, I’ll be delighted. Of course you’d love to be there, but you can’t do everything.”
He was among the crowd at Fitzgerald Stadium when Kerry got turned over by Mayo earlier in the summer, a defeat that set off some alarm bells ringing throughout the Kingdom. However, Moran had a sense that result would not define Kerry’s season.
“Of course you’d have been disappointed by the performance, but at the back of my mind, and I suppose I knew the players so well, I saw the calibre of the players that were there, the strength of the squad, I had every faith in them,” he says.
“That wasn’t the Kerry I knew. I suppose in hindsight you are saying, was it the wake-up call we needed? Whether we needed it or not, we got it. We were definitely second best that day.
“Maybe it’s because I’m biased, but I did believe we were going to get back to a better level and that we would be competitive towards the end of the year.”
The two-time All Star midfielder believes the middle third of the field will be crucial factor in determining a winner at Croke Park on Sunday when Diarmuid O’Connor and Jack Barry are expected to go up against Conor Glass and Brendan Rogers.
“It’s not really the middle two, it’s the half backs, it’s the half forwards, it’s not like the old days when you’re kicking out long kick-outs and one up or whatever. It’s going to be a lot of short kick-outs, get possession, move the ball, defence, tackling, stuff like that.
“I think the reality of life is whatever middle eight are on top it’s their two midfielders who are going to look best.”
– AIB ambassador David Moran was speaking ahead of this weekend’s All-Ireland SFC semi-finals.
