KERRY Under-20 boss Tomás Ó Sé has slammed the AFL for poaching young talent and revealed one of his players is currently being lined up by an Australian club.
The Kingdom legend is in his third year leading his county’s youngsters and had already lost rising star Rob Monahan, 20, to Carlton 12 months ago.
Another of Ó Sé’s former Under-20 hotshots, Cillian Burke, 21, joined the Geelong Cats last year.
Burke’s fellow Dingle man Mark O’Connor made a high-profile move to the club in 2016 when he was 19.
Five-time All-Star Ó Sé does not begrudge any youngster going Down Under but has a dim view of how the Aussie professional outfits go about their business.
He said: “I think it’s wrong what’s going on.
“I know for a fact that there’s an Under-20 player in Kerry being rung by coaches from an Australian club telling him how he did in matches after watching him.
“And if it was a professional . . . I don’t know what the rules are. If it was soccer or rugby I don’t think they’d be allowed to do that when the fella is doing his Leaving Cert.
“Don’t get me wrong, fellas think I’m completely against going out — if the offer is there, I’d wish him all the best and I’d always wish him all the best and I hope there’s success out there and it’s brilliant.
“But as a Kerry man, I hate the way it’s done.
“I just hate the way there’s 15 years going into a young fella and it’s just, ‘Oh yeah, we’ll have that fella there and we’ll shoot off’.”
Passionate Gael Ó Sé was raised in a household where Kerry always came first.
His uncle Páidí was a Kingdom hero and Tomás followed in his footsteps by making his SFC debut for the county in 1998.
He starred for the Kingdom alongside brothers Marc and Darragh and retired from inter-county football in 2013 with a stunning haul of five All-Irelands.
But the An Ghaeltacht clubman admits the GAA can do nothing when it comes to AFL clubs nipping in for young talent.
He said: “It annoys me that the want to play for Kerry isn’t there more. I’d rather nothing but to play for Kerry and win All-Irelands for Kerry and there’s opportunity, there’s a good team there. There’s opportunities to win All-Irelands.
“Look, I wish the lads well and all that. But it’s a huge loss to Kerry football no matter what way you look at it. Cillian Burke has gone, Rob Monahan has gone, Mark O’Connor has gone.
“It’s happening up north and elsewhere, it’s happening in other counties but I’ve kind of my peace made with it.
“We’re an amateur organisation, there’s no way you can bring money into that, there’s no way you can bring compensation, there’s no way you can bring structure because we’re an amateur organisation.
“We’re their prime picking, so why wouldn’t the Aussie Rules do it?”
BACK UNDERWAY
Back at home, Ó Sé’s men will start their Dalata Under-20 football championship campaign on April 1, and are chasing their fourth Munster title in a row. Jack O’Connor’s seniors, meanwhile, are reeling from their second-half collapse in losing 0-19 to 1-15 to Dublin in NFL Division 1 last Saturday night — they only have two points from three games.
They face fellow strugglers Tyrone on Sunday at Healy Park and both teams need points to ease relegation fears.
But Ó Sé is not panicking just yet. The Kingdom’s former half-back said: “I think Kerry, once they have a full squad, they’ll get motoring.
“They’ve had a sluggish start, they’re not happy with it.
“But a lot of it isn’t under their control with injuries and fellas coming back late and fellas not available.
“The teams that have got their good start, Galway and Donegal, they’re delighted because the same focus isn’t on them.
“Kerry are on two points, there are four teams on two points, so they wouldn’t be panicking yet.”
l DALATA HOTEL GROUP, Ireland’s largest hotel operator, is proud to announce a five-year sponsorship of the GAA Under-20 Football Championship. From today, the championship will be titled ‘Dalata Hotel Group GAA Under-20 Football Championship’. The Dalata Hotel Group portfolio — comprising of 55 primarily four-star hotels operating through its two main brands, Clayton and Maldron — will feature prominently throughout the season for the next five years.
