Shane Ryan is talking all things Kerry goalkeeping when the subject of dropping an easy ball comes up. Arguably the best shot-stopper in the business, Ryan is philosophical about such moments, even if the season turns on them.
In their seven games en route to Sunday’s All-Ireland showdown against Donegal, Kerry have conceded only four goals, and Ryan’s performances between the posts have been central to that. He’s been impeccable.
In their much-hyped quarter-final against Armagh, Ryan made three close-range saves, only Rory Grugan getting one past him. With a consistent spread of pinpoint kick-outs to boot, no wonder Ryan is considered critical to Kerry’s chances on Sunday.
Rewind to last year’s semi-final against Armagh, however, and some people were pointing at Ryan differently. In the 55th minute, with Kerry up by four points, a Rian O’Niall punt fell short, and when Ryan failed to claim it, Barry McCambridge struck the dropped ball to the net.
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Armagh went on to win by two points, after extra-time, and the rest is All-Ireland history.
“No, it was a huge moment, it was a huge factor in that game as well,” says Ryan, in no way playing down the significance of his mistake. “You don’t want them to happen. Particularly in an All-Ireland stage, but they’re going to.
“And I suppose it’s always a measure of a fella, how he reacts from mistakes, rather than the mistakes themselves. And that’s kind of how I try to perceive them. Because if you go out there fearing a mistake, you’re never going to express yourself, you’re never going perform to your maximum.
“And that goes for all positions in the field. But I suppose when you’re playing in goal, you drop a high ball, 90 per cent of the time it’s in the back of the net, or it’s over the bar.”
A few weeks after losing to Armagh, Ryan was back in action with his club Rathmore, playing out the field among the forwards, as he’s also done for years.
“If I’m playing full forward for my club and I drop a ball, no one gives it a second thought. So it’s trying to compartmentalise those individual errors and just trying to react positively to them, really.
“I suppose the nature of the [goalkeeper] position, you are going to make mistakes. And the longer I’ve played at the top level, I’ve kind of tried to accept that they’re just going to happen.”
At age 29, Ryan will play in his fifth All-Ireland final on Sunday. He joined the panel in 2019, around the same time as the now core group of this Kerry team, and being together for that long creates a very different sort of mood compared to his first final.
“I’m kind of lucky in a way, it’s my fifth final, so you do pick up small bits and pieces throughout the years. I think the older you get anyway, in a sporting context, maybe in life, you just try to enjoy things that little bit more. You know, not wish the two weeks away.
“A lot of new fellas came in 2019. And the core group of our panel at the moment is kind of a team who’ve been there in the last five, six, seven years.
“And I suppose naturally, you grow closer ... and I suppose the tighter you get, it does fit into your performances as well. You don’t want to leave the man down beside you, and you’re more likely to be yourself as well, which I think is a great trait of any of any player.”
Ryan first learned some of his goalkeeping skills in soccer, and while he credits the input of Kerry’s number two goalkeeper Shane Murphy – “he’s been nothing but really positive for my game” – he admits the new rules have added another dimension to goalkeeping this season.
“It’s been a huge change. All your kick-outs now, there is some element of pressure on them. And as always, a ‘keeper is so reliant on what’s outside him.
“I mean, a press is changing, bodies are moving, so you’re trying to see, is he really on? Is there an opposition man there? Have we an overload somewhere? Have I got a mismatch one on one? You only have half a second to make a decision, because teams are so good now that if something pops up, it’s closed in an instant.”
