THERE’S NOT MUCH the Kerry and Mayo coaches don’t know about this weekend’s opposition, considering both Donie Buckley and Cian O’Neill have previously worked on the opposite sideline.
Buckley — now working with Mayo but formerly with his native Kerry, and O’Neill who vice versa is now with Kerry — swapped positions before the start of last year’s championship.
But according to Kerry manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice neither team will gain any advantage from their coach’s inside information, as they already know each other inside out.
“Both of them have obviously good knowledge of the opposite camp but we are two years down the road now in terms of where both camps are and it has moved on a good bit in the two years so I don’t think it is as big a factor as it could be.
“In Division 1 especially, it is taken so seriously that Division 1 opposition are so familiar to each other really. I don’t think it is as big a factor as it could be.”
Cian O’Neill had been involved with James Horan’s Mayo team during their run to the 2012 All-Ireland final, yet due to work and travel commitments he decided to vacate the role the following year.
The commute to Mayo was also a concern with regard to a serious back injury the Kildare native had sustained in a car accident a few years earlier.
O’Neill is the Head of the Department of Sport, Leisure and Childhood Studies in Cork IT. He had previously been involved in Tipperary’s 2009 All-Ireland winning set-up before then joining the Kerry management team.
According to the Kerry boss the highly qualified coach knows the Mayo players very well, as their panel remains very similar to that of 2012 — a slight advantage for a now much changed Kerry team?
“There has been a good bit of flux in our panel over the last couple of years going back to 2012 and that is not so much the case with Mayo. They are a battle hardened group, they are similar enough to the group that James Horan put his stamp on since 2011.”
O’Neill was replaced by Donie Buckley, who had himself just left the Kerry set-up mid-way through the 2012 season. The renowned skills coach had previously worked with Clare and Limerick, but after just one season with his native Kerry he walked away from the role.
After Jack O’Connor’s resignation at the end of the 2011 season, Buckley returned from a knee operation to find that his coaching services were no longer required. Buckley then declined the offer to become a selector and later agreed to join James Horan’s team.
“Donie is a top coach. When Cian finished with Mayo, he was available and he came to us. Donie was available, he lives in Ennis which is a bit of a trek up to Castlebar but it was a fit that was going to work.
“Donie is a top class coach. I think it was a natural enough fit,” explained Fitzmaurice.
“Cian probably knows a lot of the Mayo lads but Donie would be very familiar with the club scene in Kerry too so he would have a good knowledge of the players that he did not put through his hands when he was involved with Jack in 2011.”
