As a games development officer in the county, Galway captain Seán Kelly is fully aware of the importance of being relevant again on the national stage.
A first All-Ireland senior final appearance in 21 years means football talk is swirling around again, and Kelly is witnessing the sense of joy at the Cúl Camps.
“It is massive, just the excitement,” Kelly says. “I'm going around to Cúl Camps at the moment, just seeing the excitement on kids faces, even down in my own pitch, seeing lads out kicking footballs if I'm going down doing a gym session or whatever.
“It is great to see, it is something the county will benefit from. Hopefully we can keep reaching these high standards being in All-Ireland finals. It is where you want to be as a player.”
That three Kelly brothers – Seán, Paul, and Eoghan – are involved in the Galway set-up currently is another source of satisfaction. “We are busy enough, all going training together,” he laughs. “It is a bit of a family affair with three of us in there, but it is an honour for the family.”
It isn’t lost on Kelly the fact that Galway footballers are beginning to stir again. Maigh Cuilinn’s dramatic improvement under the shrewd guidance of Don Connellan in recent years means players from the club are now operating regularly for Galway.
One of his brothers Paul has excelled at basketball in the Super League, while Eoghan returned from college in the USA to feature at that level too. His performances for Maigh Cuilinn and NUI Galway in the Sigerson earned a call up into Pádraic Joyce’s set-up.
“He was away from football for three years playing basketball in college, but he was playing at such a high level over there,” Kelly explains.
“The games can intertwine - footwork, lots of similar stuff in terms of defending seeing man and ball. So there is a lot of similar stuff between the sports sometimes. Obviously Eoghan just needed to work on some of the skills - he had been away from the game for three years, but he has had a great year with club and then went into the Sigerson.
“He had a good year with the Sigerson and then obviously in here now. Still he obviously has major room for improvement and he will relish that opportunity.”
Seán Kelly, though, has flourished in the maroon and white jersey with 2022 providing plenty of medals and memories already. “Exactly, you could say that, winning is a habit, that is what we say,” he replies.
“It was great to get over the line in the Sigerson, we won the FBD at the start of the year, we lost the league final to Roscommon, we were disappointed. We kicked on from that, we had a Connacht Championship to prepare for one game at a time. We got over the line and then into the All Ireland series, we are looking forward to the next day.”
Sigerson and underage battles against a gifted crop of Kerry footballers linger in Kelly’s mind. The 2017 All Ireland U21 semi-final featuring several players from both counties, who will be involved this weekend illustrates the quality of that match reflecting back five years later. “We have had a couple of games against them - 2017 we played them at U21, a lot of those young lads have come through,” Kelly says. “We got over the line that day and obviously UCC too, a good few of the lads played them. It is not something we are scared of, you cannot be scared of someone else. We are looking forward to it, we know it is going to be a tough battle.”
Galway have prepared in diligent fashion with Kelly relishing the training tussles against some accomplished attackers. “We mix it up in fairness,” he says. “There are numerous forwards that are a threat, for example Damien [Comer] would be bigger and stronger, Shane [Walsh] faster, even one of my club lads, Dessie Conneely, smaller with sharp turns.
“Then going into games if you know who you are picking up, you can find that man in training, similar enough players, match up with them to get ready for the weekend. It is always changing, there are very good players all through the panel. As a defensive unit we get great benefit from that.
“You want to be marking the best players and if you mark them in training you get ready for that then in a game. There is a huge benefit out of it.”
Following an injury ravaged stint, Comer’s rich contribution in 2022 has been a key factor in Galway’s rise. “Definitely, he is such a threat, a strong and good scoring forward,” Kelly responds.
“It is great to have him fully fit getting a good run of games. It is what every player wants. It is what you want off every player - the strongest players playing as much as they can. It is horrible to see injuries. So it is great to have him.”
The 2021 Connacht final at Croke Park when Mayo defeated Galway hurt. Forced off with a hamstring injury, seeing Mayo triumph in the circumstances was demanding for Kelly. “It is tough because you cannot do anything about it,” he says.
“You are sitting there watching it and it was disappointing last year against Mayo. We got a couple of injuries - myself, Shane got a bang on his shoulder. It was tough last year, but this year thankfully we have got a good run, keeping everyone fit and on the pitch. It is great to see.”
In the gritty Galwegian revival Kelly has led by example.
