O’Connor refused to get drawn into debate on whether or not forward get too much or not enough protection from referees: ‘I never go down the line of talking about referees. Kevin McStay can milk his cows, that’s his business’
Kerry manager Jack O’Connor shake hands with Cork manager John Cleary after the 2024 Munster SFC semi-final at Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney. Photo by Sportsfile
There’s nothing like facing Cork in the Championship to focus Kerry minds. Forget about playing Dublin or the All-Ireland champions, Armagh, under lights in Tralee in the League. Pay no heed to being taken off-Broadway to play Tyrone in Pomeroy in February, or even going to Salthill in March with Division One survival on the line.
For Jack O’Connor, it has always been about the Sam Maguire Cup, and that has almost always meant at least one Championship joust with Cork. And there is enough in the Kerry manager’s memory bank going back 20 years to remind him that, clichéd as it is, Cork are Cork.