JACK O’CONNOR reckons the hectic schedule of club fixtures in Kerry has taken a huge toll on his injury-hit squad.
The view was expressed by the Kingdom boss after he confirmed that Tom O’Sullivan and Diarmuid O’Connor would miss this weekend’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Tyrone.
A somewhat unique structure is in place in Kerry, where separate club, county and district championships are all contested.
Due to burnout fears, some members of the Kerry senior set-up sat out the district competition last season.
It was suggested recently by skipper Gavin White that the demands of football’s new rules may also be contributing to the increase in injuries.
That point was put to the Kerry gaffer yesterday in Tralee, where he addressed the media ahead of Saturday’s bid to become the first team to advance to this year’s All-Ireland decider.
O’Connor said: “Yeah, there probably is a bit more high-speed running, particularly in the middle eight.
“The game before these new rules was a slower game. There were periods where teams could almost rest with the ball, if you know what I mean — it’s kind of a soccer phrase.
“But now the ball is moving and there are very little delays. You could foul tactically before as well to slow down the play.
“Now there’s no such thing as a tactical foul because you can move the ball on or whatever.
“But I think there are other factors. It’s well documented that Kerry players aren’t getting enough of an off-season.
“We have three championships down here.
“Players are playing into November and you’re starting pre-season training. It’s very tricky. I don’t think players are getting enough of an off-season.
“You might get away with that for a few months but then it comes back to bite you because if you haven’t enough of an off-season, you haven’t enough of a pre-season.
“Somewhere along the line, something is going to have to take a hit there.
“But that’s for another day. That’s a bigger argument and it’s not for me to solve.”
Kerry have been plagued by injuries this year, with Paul Geaney, Mike Breen, Tadhg Morley, Tony Brosnan and Diarmuid O’Connor playing no part in the dethroning of Armagh last time out.
Tom O’Sullivan is unavailable for the meeting with Tyrone after the defender was forced off with a calf injury in the first half of the victory over the Sam Maguire holders.
O’Connor remains sidelined after aggravating a shoulder issue in the preliminary quarter-final win over Cavan.
Fellow midfielder Barry Dan O’Sullivan has been missing since suffering a season-ending ACL knee injury in the group-stage victory against Cork.
Apart from that trio, Kerry chief O’Connor refused to rule any of his injury-affected players in or out of the meeting with the Red Hands.
Speaking yesterday, he added: “Their level of readiness, I’m not too sure. We have two sessions left, this evening and Wednesday, and we’ll make a decision on them then.
“They’re all losses. Tony Brosnan is back training, that’s all I’ll say, and any fella back training has a chance. Mike Breen and Tadhg Morley are back doing some training.”
KINGDOM FITNESS
O’Connor also confirmed that Paudie Clifford experienced ‘no ill-effects’ after having a big impact following his half-time introduction against Armagh.
As for Geaney, who was an unused sub against the Orchard, the boss added: “He’s training away but has he gone at it 100 per cent? Probably not yet, but he’s close.
“We have had a bad run with injuries.
“It was only afterwards that I was thinking about it, but we were down anything up to seven starters the last day.
“I don’t think any team in the country could ship that kind of attrition and try and survive.
“We would be in a stronger position if we had a clean bill of health but we have to deal with what we have to deal with.
“It has been a very tricky season.
“Not alone have we had to deal with a lot of injuries, but we have had to deal with trying to get players back from the clubs and incorporate them into the system.”
