LAST SEPTEMBER SAW the series of setbacks commence for Kerry.
Just over seven weeks since he had lifted Sam Maguire, a club match with Austin Stacks saw Joe O’Connor hit with a cruciate injury. The 23-year-old had featured in four of Kerry’s five championship ties. As a midfielder, he was one bracketed in the potential category.
In early January, Diarmuid O’Connor hit a roadblock in a routine McGrath Cup encounter with Clare. Ankle ligament damage was the subsequent diagnosis. He’s been sidelined since, offering a reminder to locals of his absence last Saturday evening in Tralee, when he took his seat at the back of the main stand at Austin Stack Park about a half-hour before throw-in, joining Gavin Crowley, Gavin White and Mike Breen as part of the sidelined Kingdom brigade.
On the same day as O’Connor was injured, David Moran produced a towering display in Croke Park. Defeat was the outcome for his Kerins O’Rahillys team but the manner in which he ruled the skies, sparked hope that the veteran might commit again to the Kingdom cause for another season.
Instead a fortnight later, Moran pulled the plug on his Kerry playing days. Three All-Ireland titles, two All-Stars and 14 seasons formed a substantial body of work.
It has left Jack O’Connor with a dilemma for 2023. What is his best midfield partnership?
For Kerry’s four league games to date, he has handed the number eight jersey to Jack Barry, now the elder statesman in that sector. The wearer of the number nine jersey is more intriguing in Barry Dan O’Sullivan, who is enjoying a career renaissance.
O’Sullivan has yet to play a minute of senior championship action for Kerry. He is a 27-year-old that was pulled back into the squad in the off-season after strong showings for a Dingle team that pushed East Kerry to the wire in a county semi-final.
Yet he has stockpiled plenty experience. He played once in the 2016 league for Kerry against Roscommon, made two appearances as a substitute the following year and in 2018 got a sustained run at midfield, playing in five games. Prior to that O’Sullivan was a two-year minor and three-year U21 for Kerry. O’Connor would be well-acquainted with him from this time, as they won the 2014 All-Ireland minor win title and the 2017 Munster U21.
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Other career paths have emerged. A Hogan Cup win with PS Chorca Dhuibhne in 2014. O’Sullivan studied veterinary in UCD, a sub in their 2016 Sigerson Cup final victory and a starter alongside Jack Barry when they replicated that success in 2018. There was even the novel turn of hurling a Kerry team that collected All-Ireland U21 B hurling medals in 2017.
Barry O'Sullivan celebrates after the 2018 Sigerson Cup final win. Oisin Keniry / INPHO
Oisin Keniry / INPHO / INPHO
Now he’s making another attempt to gain a foothold in the Kerry senior team. There have been regular bursts of midfield play and passages where Kerry have shifted him into the edge of the square. That ploy resulted in a tidy finish for a goal against Mayo in Castlebar, although there was a lack of service last Saturday night when he drifted in behind the massed Armagh cover.
It was a game where Armagh sought to counter-attack and Kerry saw a world of ball, attempting to probe and pull the rearguard apart for gaps. O’Sullivan was in the thick of it around the centre, often preferring to switch the play with kickpasses for a team-mate to run onto. In a game where scores were severely rationed, his robust style created openings. He hooked over a point on the stroke of half-time, barrelled through to lay off for Tadhg Morley in the 45th minute when Kerry badly needed a score and then exchanged passes on the right flank near the finish to allow Tony Brosnan curl over a stylish shot.
“Barry is doing a great job for us,” remarked O’Connor afterwards.
“We are obviously short on options around the middle of the field, so Barry has come in and done a very good job.
“He’s a mature lad, good head on his shoulders and fine strong physical lad.”
Kerry's Barry O'Sullivan and Armagh's Jarly Óg Burns. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
Prior to throw-in against Armagh, Kerry announced one alteration to their starting side. After three substitute cameos in the league to date, Stefan Okunbor was pressed into action from the off.
In September 2021 it was announced that Okunbor was calling time on his AFL career with Geelong and moving back to Kerry. Injuries had stunted his development in Australia and impacted on the gametime he received. The Kerry emphasis on the AFL was understandably placed on the exploits of Dingle’s Mark O’Connor but the Tralee man’s decision was significant.
And then injuries hit him hard when he came home. In January last year he discolated his shoulder in an All-Ireland intermediate club semi-final with Na Gaeil against Derry’s Steelstown. It curtailed his 2022 ambitions, never quite coming right and other issues cropped up for good measure. Surgery was required on the shoulder after Kerry’s All-Ireland victory.
If his hope is to pin down a starting slot this year, he produced a strong showing last Saturday. He began with the duty of curbing Rian O’Neill, the Crossmaglen man slipping in front to collect a 27th minute delivery, swiveling and clipping over a lovely point. That proved his only score from play and gradually he retreated deeper as the game progressed.
Moving outfield to follow O’Neill suited Okunbor’s range of athleticism and physicality. He did different things on the night with that defensive work, an eagerness to get involved around the middle and on occasion galloping forward in possession. There were signs of the dynamism that could serve Kerry well from a player that O’Connor witnessed excelling at U20 level in 2018.
“Yeah (he did) a great job,” said O’Connor after Saturday night’s win.
“He was on O’Neill for patches and he did a right good job on him and look Stefan just needs football. People don’t realise Stefan has very few games of football played in the last three years but his athleticism and his strength was a big factor. I thought he had a great game.”
The pair give O’Connor and his Kerry managerial team some options that they require. A trip to Omagh on Sunday, a home meeting with Roscommon in Tralee and an away day in Salthill concludes Kerry’s league activities before their first Munster outing on 22 April against Tipperary or Waterford.
Diarmuid O’Connor should be available by then. Adrian Spillane has swapped between wing-forward and midfield berths in the past. Listry’s Ronan Buckley, Rathmore’s Mark Ryan and Greg Horan of Austin Stacks have all made their case on the club stage to demand further county recognition.
But the consistency of O’Sullivan and the versatility of Okunbor provide food for thought for O’Connor. He has seen first-hand how both can impact at underage.
Now he will hope their form will maintain that upward curve at the highest level.
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AFL return, injury battle and a comeback at 27 - Kerry's options in the engine room
LAST UPDATE | 2 Mar 2023
LAST SEPTEMBER SAW the series of setbacks commence for Kerry.
Just over seven weeks since he had lifted Sam Maguire, a club match with Austin Stacks saw Joe O’Connor hit with a cruciate injury. The 23-year-old had featured in four of Kerry’s five championship ties. As a midfielder, he was one bracketed in the potential category.
In early January, Diarmuid O’Connor hit a roadblock in a routine McGrath Cup encounter with Clare. Ankle ligament damage was the subsequent diagnosis. He’s been sidelined since, offering a reminder to locals of his absence last Saturday evening in Tralee, when he took his seat at the back of the main stand at Austin Stack Park about a half-hour before throw-in, joining Gavin Crowley, Gavin White and Mike Breen as part of the sidelined Kingdom brigade.
On the same day as O’Connor was injured, David Moran produced a towering display in Croke Park. Defeat was the outcome for his Kerins O’Rahillys team but the manner in which he ruled the skies, sparked hope that the veteran might commit again to the Kingdom cause for another season.
Instead a fortnight later, Moran pulled the plug on his Kerry playing days. Three All-Ireland titles, two All-Stars and 14 seasons formed a substantial body of work.
It has left Jack O’Connor with a dilemma for 2023. What is his best midfield partnership?
For Kerry’s four league games to date, he has handed the number eight jersey to Jack Barry, now the elder statesman in that sector. The wearer of the number nine jersey is more intriguing in Barry Dan O’Sullivan, who is enjoying a career renaissance.
O’Sullivan has yet to play a minute of senior championship action for Kerry. He is a 27-year-old that was pulled back into the squad in the off-season after strong showings for a Dingle team that pushed East Kerry to the wire in a county semi-final.
Yet he has stockpiled plenty experience. He played once in the 2016 league for Kerry against Roscommon, made two appearances as a substitute the following year and in 2018 got a sustained run at midfield, playing in five games. Prior to that O’Sullivan was a two-year minor and three-year U21 for Kerry. O’Connor would be well-acquainted with him from this time, as they won the 2014 All-Ireland minor win title and the 2017 Munster U21.
Other career paths have emerged. A Hogan Cup win with PS Chorca Dhuibhne in 2014. O’Sullivan studied veterinary in UCD, a sub in their 2016 Sigerson Cup final victory and a starter alongside Jack Barry when they replicated that success in 2018. There was even the novel turn of hurling a Kerry team that collected All-Ireland U21 B hurling medals in 2017.
Now he’s making another attempt to gain a foothold in the Kerry senior team. There have been regular bursts of midfield play and passages where Kerry have shifted him into the edge of the square. That ploy resulted in a tidy finish for a goal against Mayo in Castlebar, although there was a lack of service last Saturday night when he drifted in behind the massed Armagh cover.
It was a game where Armagh sought to counter-attack and Kerry saw a world of ball, attempting to probe and pull the rearguard apart for gaps. O’Sullivan was in the thick of it around the centre, often preferring to switch the play with kickpasses for a team-mate to run onto. In a game where scores were severely rationed, his robust style created openings. He hooked over a point on the stroke of half-time, barrelled through to lay off for Tadhg Morley in the 45th minute when Kerry badly needed a score and then exchanged passes on the right flank near the finish to allow Tony Brosnan curl over a stylish shot.
“Barry is doing a great job for us,” remarked O’Connor afterwards.
“We are obviously short on options around the middle of the field, so Barry has come in and done a very good job.
“He’s a mature lad, good head on his shoulders and fine strong physical lad.”
Prior to throw-in against Armagh, Kerry announced one alteration to their starting side. After three substitute cameos in the league to date, Stefan Okunbor was pressed into action from the off.
In September 2021 it was announced that Okunbor was calling time on his AFL career with Geelong and moving back to Kerry. Injuries had stunted his development in Australia and impacted on the gametime he received. The Kerry emphasis on the AFL was understandably placed on the exploits of Dingle’s Mark O’Connor but the Tralee man’s decision was significant.
And then injuries hit him hard when he came home. In January last year he discolated his shoulder in an All-Ireland intermediate club semi-final with Na Gaeil against Derry’s Steelstown. It curtailed his 2022 ambitions, never quite coming right and other issues cropped up for good measure. Surgery was required on the shoulder after Kerry’s All-Ireland victory.
If his hope is to pin down a starting slot this year, he produced a strong showing last Saturday. He began with the duty of curbing Rian O’Neill, the Crossmaglen man slipping in front to collect a 27th minute delivery, swiveling and clipping over a lovely point. That proved his only score from play and gradually he retreated deeper as the game progressed.
Moving outfield to follow O’Neill suited Okunbor’s range of athleticism and physicality. He did different things on the night with that defensive work, an eagerness to get involved around the middle and on occasion galloping forward in possession. There were signs of the dynamism that could serve Kerry well from a player that O’Connor witnessed excelling at U20 level in 2018.
“Yeah (he did) a great job,” said O’Connor after Saturday night’s win.
“He was on O’Neill for patches and he did a right good job on him and look Stefan just needs football. People don’t realise Stefan has very few games of football played in the last three years but his athleticism and his strength was a big factor. I thought he had a great game.”
The pair give O’Connor and his Kerry managerial team some options that they require. A trip to Omagh on Sunday, a home meeting with Roscommon in Tralee and an away day in Salthill concludes Kerry’s league activities before their first Munster outing on 22 April against Tipperary or Waterford.
Diarmuid O’Connor should be available by then. Adrian Spillane has swapped between wing-forward and midfield berths in the past. Listry’s Ronan Buckley, Rathmore’s Mark Ryan and Greg Horan of Austin Stacks have all made their case on the club stage to demand further county recognition.
But the consistency of O’Sullivan and the versatility of Okunbor provide food for thought for O’Connor. He has seen first-hand how both can impact at underage.
Now he will hope their form will maintain that upward curve at the highest level.
Get instant updates on the Allianz Football and Hurling Leagues on The42 app. Brought to you by Allianz Insurance, proud sponsors of the Allianz Leagues for over 30 years.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
GAA Kerry Men in the Middle