Kerry are preparing to celebrate their double success in the All-Ireland Football Championship as the minor and senior champions get set to journey home to the Kingdom this evening.
The victorious teams will depart Dublin’s Heuston Station at 1.45pm.
They will stop in Rathmore, Tralee and Killarney as part of the homecoming.
Speaking at their team hotel this morning, man of the match for the senior outfit Paul Murphy said the win has yet to hit home.
He told RTÉ Sport: “It hasn’t sunk in at all. It will probably be later in the week. It’s almost a state of shock still.
“It’s been an unbelievable year for my first year on the panel. I’m not naive enough to think you’re going to win All-Irelands and win man of the match every year but it’s a fantastic experience.
“The euphoria yesterday, that five minutes after the game with the players and the management, that is the feeling you want to replicate. We’ll try to get it again in years to come.”
“It’s not too long ago I can remember being there in the crowd ... so to be up there myself, I’m really looking forward to it” - Paul Murphy
Murphy was not even a member of the minor panel before a call from current manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice at Under-21 gave him renewed hope for featuring for the senior side.
He said he owes a lot to Fitzmaurice.
“I was small enough as a young lad and I’m still not a huge man. But I was small enough and probably physically weak for the minors.
“But I kept playing with the club – it is where you start and where you finish. Eamonn took a punt on me at Under-21 level in 2012 and then again at the start of this year. I’ve a huge debt of gratitude to Eamonn for giving me my chance.”
The first stop is Murphy’s home of Rathmore, where Murphy previously watched victorious Kerry teams bring the Sam Maguire back to the Kingdom.
“I can’t wait for that,” he admitted.
“It’s not too long ago I can remember being there in the crowd cheering on Tom O’Sullivan, Aidan O’Mahony and Declan so to be up there myself, I’m really looking forward to it.”
