Kerry selector Aodán Mac Gearailt is convinced David Clifford has not reached the peak of his powers.
Clifford is expected to claim a third footballer of the year award in November and Mac Gearailt knows he has brought his game another step forward this past season.
“I’ve said it to David, I think he’s gone to another level this year,” said the An Ghaeltacht man. “So where he can finish up in terms of his performance, it’s sky’s the limit stuff with David. He’s finding new elements to his game all the time.
“Some of the best turnovers we had this year, David was involved in them. And that’s stuff that doesn’t always get seen. He’s an excellent fielder. I think in the Armagh game in the first half, he caught a kick-out, soloed left, kicked the point off his right. I mean, this guy, he does things that you’d just be taken aback.”
Mac Gearailt felt Clifford and his Kerry teammates were beginning to demonstrate their worth in the closing stages of the championship.
“I actually think all of them can get better. You know, even looking back on this year, and I said it to the group, I felt they were only starting to realise their potential towards the end of this year. I think there was a lot more in some players than they actually showed.
“And I was delighted that (the final) was probably our most complete performance of the year. And a lot of players who maybe wouldn’t have received the recognition, even in Kerry, are now recognised as proper Kerry footballers. And, jeez, that gives you a huge amount of satisfaction.
“Like, I’m on about the Mike Breens, the Evan Looneys, the Sean O’Briens, the Mark O’Sheas, Dylan Geaneys, these guys now have earned the right to be called proper Kerry footballers.”
Mac Gearailt believes Clifford doesn’t get enough credit for the work he puts into his football. To kick like he does requires a lot of activation work with physio Paudie McQuinn.
“That routine takes maybe 20 minutes before we ever start to warm him. And he goes through every bit of it meticulously.”
He continued: “What doesn’t get spoken about often enough is the amount of time David puts into practicing his skills.”
Given his old team-mates like Mark O’Connor and Cillian Burke have left for Australia, Kerry supporters have good reason to thankful Clifford never opted for an AFL Rules career. Mac Gearailt says it was never on the cards.
“The Aussies have taken enough from Kerry football, now! David’s extremely loyal and humble. His priority is Kerry football.
“None of us have anything against any lads from Kerry that go to Australia. That’s a personal choice. It’s a huge opportunity and we all recognise that. But David’s priority always was Kerry football. Like, his family are just rooted in football. I was in college with his uncle, Fergus. They’d be morning, noon and night thinking about and talking about football.”
For the two-time All-Ireland SFC winner who missed Sunday’s jubilee celebration because of his involvement with the team, the season has been a joy for Mac Gearailt.
He knew Cian O’Neill from their UL student days as well as James Costello and Pa McCarthy from playing and coaching in the county. Putting their heads together and coming up with a kick-out strategy for the championship required much of their focus. As Paudie Clifford said last Sunday, the Meath game made them realised it has to change.
“It took us a bit of time, I won’t lie, to adapt to our strategy on kick-outs and even breaking ball. It took a bit of work. There’s a lot in it, but I think if you have a good kicking game, you can always exploit defences and you can move the ball quicker. It’ll obviously move a lot quicker by foot. I think maybe that was an advantage we had, definitely.”
As Jack O’Connor said, the training camp to Portugal gave them the time to hone in on scoring two-pointers.
“Did we get five goals against Derry in the first round of the National League? I think we saw that as this is the way to go after it because teams are going to push out on the arc and they’re going to leave space in behind.
“It evolved. It depends on the opposition. Donegal don’t push out, they sit back. We obviously got five two-pointers. Against a different team, you wouldn’t get as many opportunities. Armagh were similar. They sat back a little bit inside the arc, protected the goal. It’s about analysing the opposition and then using the rules to suit what will get you over the line.
“We knew that they’d be very concentrated down David Clifford’s side. So, obviously, we had to exploit it on the other side to get them to shift over. I thought Gavin White gave an exhibition bursting through from the seven and we got a lot of joy out of that.”
