KERRY BOSS ÉAMONN Fitzmaurice brought more good news for Kingdom football fans yesterday.
In the wake of Sunday’s All-Ireland final triumph, Fitzmaurice has revealed the strong possibility of 2009 All-Ireland winner Tommy Walsh returning to Ireland.
He also sees no reason why long-serving players like Aidan O’Mahony, Marc Ó Sé and Declan O’Sullivan cannot continue for Kerry in 2015 despite speculation that they may retire after this year’s success.
And Fitzmaurice has also pointed to a bright future following Kerry’s All-Ireland minor win on Sunday, a team that contained several players that the senior manager had steered to Hogan Cup glory last April with Pobalscoil Chorca Dhuibhne.
“Would I expect him (Tommy Walsh) back? I’d say there’s a good chance he’ll be back yeah. One of two of the older lads might be thinking about (retirement). I think a lot of it comes down to their personal lives more so than anything else.
“With Declan he’ll get his knees sorted out, he’ll be fine physically. Aidan is fine physically, Marc is fine physically. Kieran Donaghy is only 31. I think if their personal lives allow them to, there’s no reason that they won’t keep going.
Having Colm (Cooper) back in harness again, the growth of those young fellas this year and how much this experience will help them. The winter together, we’ll have a team holiday, that’ll make them tighter again. So it’s a very exciting time to be involved in Kerry football.”
Fitzmaurice also took huge satisfaction from Kerry’s minor success.
“I was delighted for those lads. They’re winners. The lads that I know well from school, they just know how to win. They’ve won everything the whole way up along. I wasn’t overly surprised.
“With Jack in charge of them then, he was always going to bring his own X-factor to bear. It was fantastic. It was too long, going back to 1994.”