By Rory Houston - @RTESundayGame
Tadhg Kennelly feels keeping Paul Galvin on the bench for Sunday’s All-Ireland Football final with Dublin could prove a masterstroke for Jack O’Connor’s men.
<notforsyndication>Watch live coverage of Dublin v Kerry on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie (Island of Ireland) from 2.15pm on Sunday, 18 September</notforsyndication>
The 30-year-old, who tasted All-Ireland success two years ago with the Kingdom, told RTÉ’s Marty Morrissey in an interview to be broadcast on Saturday Sport, that the introduction of Galvin could lift Kerry at a vital time this weekend.
He said: “You saw it all year. Every time Paul came into the game he got everybody involved. He got the crowd involved and the team. That is the one tactic that Jack is looking at for impact.
“I’m sure Paul will be disappointed that he is not going to starting in an All-Ireland final but it is that emotion and raw passion that Paul brings to the team that will bring an enormous injection from the minute he comes into the ground.
“It is the one huge impact Kerry can have by bringing the emotion and experience to the game.
“As a footballer it is great to be involved in these games, being part of history and recognition of the past. For those players it doesn’t matter.
“It could be Kerry v Cork, or Dublin v Meath. For the players it doesn’t matter who you are playing because it is an All-Ireland final. You could play in the car park and it wouldn’t matter.”
Kennelly experienced the journey to an All-Ireland final and the atmosphere in a Kerry dressing room as they strived to reach a Sam Maguire decider in 2009.
Asked about the secret of Kerry’s brilliant record of reaching finals, Kennelly said: “The drive they have for each other is unbelievable. When I joined that team they had been in five All-Ireland finals in-a-row.
“People were saying how are they going to get to another one and they done it. The belief and the strength in character in the team is enormous.
“There is no doubt that a huge driving factor in the team, and they won’t have talked about it, but as individuals, will be for Gooch to lift the Sam Maguire cup. I think that will be huge driving force. As a group it will be huge for them.
“Kerry have been under enormous criticism in the middle of the field throughout the year and they have performed admirably. Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan were fantastic in the semi-final and they were fantastic throughout the year. The question mark is the biggest day of the lot.”
Lifting the Sam Maguire Cup was a dream come true for Kennelly and a goal reached after 10 years in Australia with the Sydney Swans. He admitted the build-up to this weekend’s game has brought back some poignant memories.
“It is quite a difficult weekend for me to be honest. I was thinking about it a lot the last couple of days. Coming up to the weekend and the excitement and the texting and calling from home, it brings up a lot of memories and feelings of 2009. It is a bit strange and difficult.
“The emotion involved was enormous with my father passing and the All-Ireland being won. It was something I always wanted to do from a child. You grow up wanting to do what your father done. I was no different to any other kid.
“I wanted to win an All-Ireland like my Dad and when I got the opportunity in 2009 I was extremely grateful. A lot of those emotions have been coming back to me in the last few days.”
It remains to be seen if Kennelly will return to Ireland to try to achieve more success for Kerry in the new few years.
He is happy to see how his retirement from the AFL pans out before making a decision: “I was finding it tough mentally to keep going, 24 weekends of the year. My body has been through quite a bit the last 12 or 13 years of being out here.
“I’ll take a bit of a break and get away from it. Once the season finishes I’ll sit down with my family and friends and decide (about my future).”
Tadhg Kennelly will be speaking on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 which begins at 2pm.
