Jack O'Connor reacts to Kerry's All-Ireland final victory: 'This team has been coming!'
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor reflects on his team's All-Ireland final victory over Galway, noting how the Kingdom's team has been building in recent years and outlining his hopes that this can be a springboard for future success.
Monday 25 July 2022 14:45, UK
Jack O'Connor was not brought back as Kerry manager to build a medium or long-term project.
His remit was simple: Win the All-Ireland title. And quickly.
The Kingdom had fallen short in recent years, despite seemingly having the weapons to go all the way. O'Connor's return proved the catalyst, and he has guided the county to the summit for the fourth time across three stints at the helm.
"Look, it isn't about myself. It's about that group of lads," he said after the contest.
"This team has been coming for a few years.
"We've been trying to put them together since 2014. I finished up with the seniors in 2012 because we knew that a new group needed to come. The great team from '04 to '09 had come to an end here 11 years ago, I suppose Stephen Cluxton put an end to them.
"We knew that a new group had to be developed and whatever. That began in 2014 (at minor level). We didn't think today would take eight years to go the distance, but with that group, I know we won one in '14 but this is the five-in-a-row minors really coming through today. We're just hoping it is the start of something good."
And he was particularly pleased with how his team dug deep to deliver the result against Galway.
"Absolutely. They're the best ones of all," he said when asked about the manner of victory.
"This was never going to be an easy game. I'm not sure what the odds were because I'm not a betting man. But we never took Galway lightly. I thought Galway played very very well. Maybe the tag of favouritism rested heavily on our fellas' shoulders, particularly in the first half I thought we were very jiggy and not composed on the ball.
"We had seven wides kicked before Galway registered a wide. So they looked like they were nailing everything down into the Hill 16 end, and we were very wasteful up the other end.
"In general play I thought we were doing ok. We were turning Galway over. And we were doing very well on the Galway kick-out. I just thought we were lacking composure and just needed to be more clinical. And that was the message at half-time."
And he delivered some harsh words at half-time in the dressing.
"Possibly. I was quite animated myself at half-time. I felt that we weren't playing to our potential out there," he outlined.
"There were players who had more to give. We've always been pretty composed in the dressing room at half-time. But I think today was one where we needed a bit of a jolt. And we left a couple of yahoos alright."
The Tribesmen kept coming back, but he was thrilled with how his team found the answers:
"They (Galway) kicked the first point of the second half and you know their game plan was working for them but I think our fellows just showed a lot of metal in the second half and we had the experience of the Dublin game to fall back on.
"Dublin came back within two points of us with 25 minutes with the wind behind them and all the momentum. So, I think that probably stood to us in the last 15 to 20 minutes that we had that to fall back on."
