Colm Keys: Dublin deserve all the credit for biggest shock but Limerick really took their eye off the ball
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Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
'The buzz of it is just brilliant': Katrina Mackey on her drive to continue camogie career
Of the thirtysomething questions Katrina Mackey fields during a 12-minute chat in advance of the All-Ireland final, one gets a longer answer than the rest. It explains how the Douglas star is in her 17th year of top-level camogie and preparing for her 12th All-Ireland final. Win, and she will pocket her eighth Celtic Cross. She already has that many All-Star statuettes. In all 11 finals she has played, Mackey has worked the scoreboard. After the semi-final win over Waterford, in which Mackey contributed four points from play, manager Ger Manley revealed their nickname for the iconic full-forward: the GOAT. Off the field, she has earned a PhD in organic chemistry and works as a development chemist for Thermo Fisher Scientific. So what is it that drives her to keep going year after year? 'It's a number of things, really. I'm so used to it, it's my routine. 'You love going out every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday training. The buzz of it is just brilliant. 'Like the winter is nice to have the break, but then you're itching to get back again. 'It's a really competitive set-up, so every year I go into it, I feel I need to be better, because there's always going to be two or three new girls coming into the panel. 'This is the best time of the year, the best two weeks. What you're aspiring to do from the start of the year is to get to the final, and these are the best two weeks of training.' Liberty Insurance player of the match Cork's Katrina Mackey. Pic: ©INPHO/Bryan Keane. Manley reckons that Mackey would excel at any sport she turns her hand to. It's just fortunate for Cork that camogie is the game she took to her heart. And vice versa. Every night when Mackey heads out for training, she's ready to be tested. Most of the time, that examination is at least as rigorous as any championship match. Watching a few minutes of a training game on the Castle Road, Mackey ends up on the ground battling for possession with a defender on her back. No whistle is sounded. It's just the preparation they need. 'It's very physical in training,' she laughs. 'I'd say some of the backs play on the edge, and they could be fouling at some stages! 'But that does us good going into games then, because you mightn't necessarily be getting the frees, and the backs could be really touch-tight on you and pulling the jersey.' Is it tougher than some championship games? 'Oh yeah, definitely some of the training sessions. The forwards are always at a disadvantage as well. We're always playing against more backs. There's always an extra player, so that can be tough as well. But it prepares us well for big games. 'It is very physical and very intense, but you have to stand up to it, and if you don't do that, you're not going to perform on match day.' Given how teams set up against Cork's treble-chasers, there's no chance of them getting caught out by a sweeper system. In fact, it's become the norm. 'We practice that in training every night,' says Mackey. 'Waterford had a plus-three at some stages, so it was difficult to adapt to that, but I think we got right there in the second half.' How do they adjust in those scenarios? 'You can't launch the ball in from too deep. You have to run it through the lines and draw the defenders out to create the space inside. 'It's not always easy to see that, like in the first half against Waterford. It's nice to reset at half-time. You can go out in the second half and change it up. But you have to be able to adapt on the field to what's going on as well.' The concise precision of her answers mirrors Mackey's economy of movement and accuracy on the field. She has had to overcome hamstring, shin, and hip injuries earlier this year, missing the League final victory over Galway. 'I can manage them. I know my body better than anybody else, so that just comes with experience. 'It's definitely tougher in terms of recovery. If I did a tough session, it would take that extra few days to recover, or from a game as well. 'But I've gotten better at that, just being really conscious of my recovery. That's important to me.' Mackey scored the crucial goal in last year's final, although it's the 2017 decider, when she assisted the winning point for clubmate Julia White, that stands out as her favourite Croke Park memory. It's extra special, too, getting to travel every step of the journey with her twin sister, Pamela, by her side. 'When she took the year out in 2022, I did miss her that year, so it was nice to have her back the last couple of years. She's doing better than ever. 'She wanted the break, but then she just missed us training and the competitive nature of it.' As a corner-back and an inside-forward, they may have chosen different ends of the pitch, but they're cut from the same cloth.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Mark O'Shea the oldest first-time All-Ireland SFC winner as a starter since Tadhg Kennelly
Up to March this year, the only time Mark O'Shea had worn the Kerry jersey on the field of play was to virtually make up the numbers. In 2020, and with Kerry away on a team holiday following their All-Ireland final replay loss to Dublin the previous September, then U20 manager John Sugrue was charged with putting together a team for the McGrath Cup. After a hosing against Cork, Sugrue wanted to beef up the team largely comprising U20s so made contact with 'over-age' players like O'Shea who, despite having no minor or U20 experience with Kerry, had impressed breaking into the Dr Crokes midfield the previous season. I lár na pairce wouldn't have been considered an option for him until his late teens. 'I got a massive growth spurt there when I was about, I'd say, 17, 18. I went from about five nothing to about 6ft 2in or 3'. So, yeah, Crokes, my parents, they always kind of taught me, 'Look, just keep at it'. 'I tried to master the skills when I was smaller. When obviously the height came, things kind of started to progress a bit fast and you're kind of thrown into playing with Crokes. Obviously, playing with Kerry was something I thought probably would never come around and just very glad that it did.' It was a couple of days after Crokes went goal crazy against Dingle in last October's county final that Jack O'Connor sent O'Shea a message. ''Look, when you get the chance later in the week, will you be able to give me a call?'' The 27-year-old O'Shea was unsure what it entailed. 'I was like, 'The boat is probably gone here as well.' But, look, Kerry is such a good championship. You're playing against the Barry Dans [O'Sullivan], Diarmaid [O'Connor], David Moran and these fellas down through the years. So, it's a good kind of place to be putting yourself up and you can get a bit of confidence from it too.' A nephew of Pat O'Shea, Mark has his own blood to thank for his progression as well as Edmund O'Sullivan and Brian McMahon in the Lewis Road institute. O'Connor was vital in making him feel as comfortable as possible in the Kerry set-up, even when things went awry mid-championship. 'Jack was saying, 'You've nothing to lose,' and after the Meath game I may as well have never put on boots again, and that was the first time I'd seen at inter-county, if you're not at it… look, you can probably get the criticism, and rightly so, we weren't at it and I wasn't at it. Jack was just kind of saying to me, 'Look, there's no pressure.'' O'Shea is amusingly philosophical about his elevation this year to become the oldest first-time All-Ireland SFC winner as a starter since Tadhg Kennelly who was 28 in 2009 (Donnchadh Walsh was 30 in 2014 but had been part of '09 panel). 'I suppose there wasn't many midfielders left,' he smiles. When it was announced Kerry were to wear blue for the All-Ireland final, superstition got the better of him. 'I was like, 'Feck's sake' because I wore it when I made my debut against Mayo up in Castlebar and we were beaten. And I made my starting debut against Meath in the championship with the blue jersey. So I was like, 'Jeez, I don't know about these blue jerseys.'' Coming into a dressing room with five other Crokes men as well as Kerry masseuse and former club manager Harry O'Neill and videographer John C O'Shea made the transition easier for O'Shea. To see his clubman Gavin White excel last Sunday week before lifting the Sam Maguire Cup after his difficulties in the 2023 All-Ireland final and this year's All-Ireland club semi-final was thrilling for O'Shea. 'Anyone that knows him knows just how meticulous he is with everything. And obviously, look, no-one in Kerry or Crokes ever even put any bit of blame on Gavin for either. 'But the reaction this year, and I'd say the captaincy there, there's a lot of weight on the shoulders and when you've your captain kicking three points, I'd say won about 10 breaking balls, it's easy to row in behind someone like that. And yeah, just absolutely phenomenal. Couldn't happen to a nicer fella.' There was redemption for Micheál Burns too after he was dropped off the panel last season before he was recalled following a stunning run with Crokes. 'The Armagh game there, you saw the ability. And look, he came back with a bit of freshness too. 'The summer away in Chicago served him unbelievable, because when he came back with Crokes, he was just a refreshed player and obviously, carried through to this year. He's another fella I'm delighted for. Serious mentor to me coming up the last two years.'
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Who would have thought people cared so much about Munster SFC?
Another decade, another Munster senior football championship row. The loop theory has been underscored by the latest kerfuffle surrounding this much-maligned competition. The only difference this time around is Noel Walsh isn't here to stand up for the minnows. The former Munster chairman passed away in 2020 but you can imagine just how vexed he would be by last Thursday's decision by the provincial council to seed the championship in favour of Cork and Kerry. Walsh didn't get to see his beloved Clare compete in the last three Munster SFC finals as they previously did in the 1910s. You can imagine it would have given him an immense sense of pride. For nobody fought as hard for parity in the draw. But he was a realist too. When Kerry were winning all around them, he successfully proposed they be given a bye to the final in 1980. But as counties grew stronger into that decade, the St Joseph's Miltown-Malbay man lobbied for an open format before it eventually came to pass for the 1991 championship, a split decision. Limerick reached their first final in 26 years and a year later the cows in Clare were blissfully ignored. In the final year of his chairmanship, Munster experimented with a new format and the top three seeded teams earning semi-final berths but the open draw returned in 1999 and lasted until 2007. The following year, Cork and Kerry were kept apart in semi-final byes, another split decision which Walsh described as 'a black night for Munster football'. He said: "You're asking the impossible of the weaker counties in Munster to try to beat Cork and Kerry in the same year. There isn't a county in Ireland that could expect to do that, never mind in Munster.' Following outcry, the open draw returned for five more years before the council chose to separate Cork and Kerry again. 'A night of infamy' is how Walsh framed the decision. He couldn't believe it was happening under the watch of a Clare provincial chairman in Robert Frost. 'I think that's (the financial argument) just a spurious argument being put out by the chairman,' he lashed in this newspaper. 'What is more important anyway — a reduction in grants or a fair chance in the championship? We're not a banking organisation.' Again the boycotting of the McGrath Cup and Railway Cup team led to a compromise from 2015 in the form of the previous year's finalists being given semi-final places but no guarantee they would be separated. And that is what has endured these past 10 seasons until last Thursday's vote, which similar to the one taken in 2013 has been coloured by finances and resources. Limerick voted no back then but supported the latest motion despite the opposition of their players and management. According to Limerick manager Jimmy Lee and Clare Munster Council delegate Bernard Keane, the promise of investment in football in the four counties had been floated prior to the vote. We dare say the semi-final byes Limerick received for their football winners from Munster in the provincial championships probably helped too. The irony of how exercised, if not interested so many people are in the change of draw in a competition that in its five games this year (33,491) attracted less than either the Cork-Tipperary (42,231), Limerick-Cork (42,477) or Cork-Waterford (42,181) 2025 Munster SHC round games is potent. Having indicated he would do so in May, provincial chairman Tim Murphy has grasped the nettle. Given its five-week timeline, there isn't a whole pile that can be done with a competition that some of those criticising this latest attempt to resuscitate it have called to be scrapped. Linking league finishes with the championship has precedence, of course, and Cork are the only team who have beaten Kerry since 1992. But there probably should have been prior warning and a delay in its implementation until 2027. As Clare chairman Kieran Keating pointed out, the county weren't aware upon the league's conclusion in March that as a consequence of their and Cork's performances in it they were also losing an automatic semi-final position in the Munster SFC. At the same time, Cork weren't relegated, were a point away from promotion to Division 1 and therefore ascending to Division 2 wouldn't have done anything for The Banner. As an aside, was Peter Keane waiting to see the outcome of the vote before committing himself to a second year as manager? As the four counties consult with the Gaelic Players Association, one wonders what will happen when the 2026 draw is due to take place in October. Will Limerick compel their representatives to change their vote? If that doesn't force a U-turn, with pre-season competitions in line to return next year, it's likely the McGrath Cup will be impacted if it is revived. At the very least, Murphy has started a debate. There is heat in it but as Walsh would have argued that is necessary. It shows people care. Who would have thought it? Kerry's Kayleigh Cronin left for Australia. File picture: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho TG4's ladies and Aussie Rules football conundrum Dublin's victory in Sunday's All-Ireland ladies senior football final was roundly expected to the point that former Donegal footballer Nadine Doherty insisted Meath would need their opponents to suffer 'a psychological meltdown'. Doherty made her comments on 'Off The Ball' on Saturday where she also spoke of the impact of the emigration of footballers to the Australian game. 'I think it's decimated our game,' said Doherty, highlighting how Kayleigh Cronin was missed by Kerry in the championship having left after the league for Australia to play for AFLW club Adelaide Crows. She added: 'I don't like the way our game is promoted alongside the AFL; I think we've eased off a little bit but TG4 show the AFL. I find that absolutely bizarre because you're our biggest sponsor and marketing our direct opponent. 'There are 40 players gone – Kellyanne Hogan, a massive loss to Waterford (Hogan joined Collingwood). Not everybody is able to stay in Ireland for the full season and then head out two weeks before pre-season. There are only the top tier players (who can do that)… I just think it's ruining our game.' It's rare that TG4 would come in for criticism when they have done so much for the Gaelic games family but it's an interesting point by Doherty. When there is great Irish interest Down Under, TG4 can claim there is a market for what they are showing yet it does seem a mite counter-productive when that sport has taken players away from the indigenous one they endorse. Ultimately, something may have to give. Fógra – On August 14, The Friends of Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh come together for a golf classic in The Grange in Rathfarnham, Dublin in aid of two special charities. The fourball event is aimed at raising funds for The Hospice Foundation as well as Camphill Community in Dingle. To book, visit
