It can’t be a good sign for Kerry that the very first question put to Darran O’Sullivan is how his legs are holding up.
If he was an old man, maybe, but at age 27, O’Sullivan is actually the second youngest of the six forwards starting against Dublin in Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final. Three of them, Colm Cooper and Declan O’Sullivan (both 30) and Paul Galvin (34) possibly do feel like old men playing beside him, no matter how many times they’re told age is just a number.
But then O’Sullivan has always had a FRAGILE label pasted onto his name, if only because he has a set of hamstrings that can snap apart as easily as putting scissors to a string. So he smiles at the question and declares himself “grand”.
What has helped, he says, is basing himself at home in Kerry over the summer, affording him the time and resources _ such as regular swims in Glenbeigh – to keep his hamstrings in perfect pitch.
“I suppose that hamstring question comes up every year,” he says, “but I’ve had no injuries all summer, since I came back down for training. I missed training a few days before the Tipperary game alright, but I haven’t missed one since. It’s obviously made a big difference being back home. So feeling good, feeling fit.”
Old team
The "age" question makes O'Sullivan smile too, as he points out, correctly, that it's been thrown around the Kerry team for, well, years: "Yeah, I've been hearing how we are an old team since I came onto the panel in 2005. It's nothing new. It's the same craic, over and over again.
“An awful lot is made of it. You look at soccer. These lads are playing 50 or 60 games a year. What are we playing? 16? And it’s a very comfortable dressing room. We’re a close bunch. Lads are genuinely good friends and close friends on the team, which helps.”
The question of how Kerry are going to beat Dublin on Sunday is more subtly answered: O’Sullivan begins by admitting Dublin will start as favourites, but that Kerry aren’t travelling to Croke Park to make up the numbers, now, are they?
“I suppose it was going to be inevitable that Dublin were going to be favourites. I suppose they have been hitting cricket scores at times. They have been very impressive, whereas we have stuttered and started in fits and bits. We’re kind of under the radar because we haven’t played well consistently.
“But you’re always confident, too. We’re around a long time, this team, and the bigger the day, the more you’re going to want to play as a team. You would be confident that that can come out. And maybe in the bigger games, you go in with a little bit of nervous excitement. It’s always there. If anything, it gets stronger. The more you play in these games, the more you want them.”
This might explain, O’Sullivan says, why Kerry faded out against Cavan in the quarter-final, the game effectively won, and the crowd hardly sucking on their creative juices.
“Playing in Croke Park, when it’s half full, is not as intense. But there were a number of different factors. We took our foot off the pedal. And when you lose momentum, it’s hard to get it going again. We have to learn from that.”
The medal
The lesson of the 2011 final, when Kerry very probably took the foot off the pedal prematurely, allowing Dublin the chance to fly past, won't easily be forgotten. Whether it will provide any extra motivation or not O'Sullivan isn't sure.
“I suppose you want to get one back on them, but it’s not really motivation. Because, motivation or not, they went home with the medal, they went home with the cup. And we went home with our head in our hands. So it’s done. It’s dusted. If we win the game the next day, it’s not going to erase those memories or give us the medal back. It’s a new chapter and a new era.
“But it’s always going to be one of the hardest ones to take. You’re four points up with a couple of minutes to go. And in fairness to Dublin, they kept going and finished strong and beat us on the day. And in fairness, they always go about the game the right way. Dublin always have in my book. And I suppose they might have a bit of extra pace this year and they’ve danger everywhere. Especially in the forwards. Their panel is phenomenal.”
The build-up has been low-key in Kerry, especially as manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice has had training sessions behind closed doors. “It has been quiet, and I suppose we’re just concentrating on our own business. . . If I met someone and they wanted to talk about the game, I’d talk away for a small bit. I’m not exactly going to be telling them any secrets.”
