Youth is no concession for Kerry as they set out on another Championship campaign this evening, says Aidan O’Mahony.
The expectations that the demanding Kerry public heaps on the shoulders of those wearing green and gold won’t be any less for the fact that the team Peter Keane is fielding against Clare is carries a low age profile and former star O’Mahony wouldn’t have it any other way.
Indeed, after winning five successive All-Ireland minor titles, there is a growing demand for that to manifest itself at senior level.
“It’s a good thing because everyone spoke about the minors and people would say, ‘They need time, they need time’,” said O’Mahony. “You don’t get much time.
“You might get three or four League games and then you’re being judged straight away.
“That’s the one thing. Even when I was playing myself. When you had a bad game you knew about it and it’s kind of rewarding because at the same time, young lads come through and they know that that expectation is there.
“Kerry are going to be judged this year on whether they win an All-Ireland or not. No one’s going to be saying in September, ‘Ah they’re only a young team’.
“That pressure is on them like and I think the likes of David Clifford now, he’s come through and even the likes of Dara Moynihan in the League and young Gavin O’Brien, they’re probably saying as well, ‘I’m the same age as him, why can’t I be on that team?’
“They mightn’t have the same ability that he has but they have that back bone where they want to play for Kerry and they’ve no fear and they showed that in the League but there’s a big step up between League and Championship.”
Does that apply in Munster though? Kerry are unbackable favourites to win the province for the seventh year in-a-row and after Cork’s relegation to Division Three, this evening’s opponents Clare are the highest-ranked pretenders to their title.
Kerry breezed past them and Cork last year and then fell flat.
“For Kerry, you need Cork going well,” O’Mahony admitted. “You need to be tested before going to the Super 8s.
“At the moment, will Cork test them? I suppose looking on it you’d say no. But you need Cork to be Cork, like.
“The Cork teams I played against, league and championship, we never got anything easy. They turned us over more times than anyone else.
“For Kerry going forward they need to be tested in the Munster Championship. But you can only play what’s against you,” said the Paddy Power ambassador.
Back with Kerry this year is highly-rated coach Donie Buckley, who was involved with them for around 18 months during O’Mahony’s playing days and is resident in Ennis having once been joint-manager of the Banner.
O’Mahony added: “The beauty of bringing Donie into Kerry now is that you have a lot of young lads there, it’s a very young panel and there is a new management team.
“Donie is known for being very good and tactically aware of defenders and how they play, playing on the line and how you tackle.
“People speak about Kerry in the last couple of years about being opened up in games.
“I think they’ll work on that. Going forward I have no doubt they won’t be opened up in games.”
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