THE WEEK IN PICTURES

GLENFLESK: The Glenflesk senior ladies team who started off their season against Dingle last Sunday in Glenflesk.

Séamus Healy.

CHAMPS: The Killarney RFC U14 girls who won the Munster Bowl in Limerick.

SQUASH: At the presentation of prizes for the Gleneagle Squash Club monthly competition were (front) Tim O'Leary (referee), Paul O'Brien (runner-up), Mary O'Callaghan, Mike Howard (Cross Refrigeration), Donnagh Crowley (winner), Eamon O'Donoghue (Gleneagle), Alan Moriarty, Joanne and Hannah McCarthy and Kevin Smith. Back: Frank Ryan, Eamonn Bowler, Jack Buckley, Connie Doyle, Maciej Truchan, Brian Doody, Ray O'Callaghan, Mike O'Donoghue, Mike Crowley and Tom Murphy. Photo: Eamonn Keogh.

BJJ: Jonathan O'Sullivan and Nikki Reidy of SBG Killarney who both won gold medals at the Irish Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Dublin Open.

WINNER: Diarmuid and Ruby Healy, winners of the Mastergeeha FC lotto jackpot of €9,400. Also pictured are Ruby's mom Rachel, Kathleen O'Leary and Jimmy Devane of the Mastergeeha FC lotto committee, and club treasurer David Fleming.

GOLF: At the presentation of prizes for the Ross Golf Club scramble were (front) Mary Gorman, Lady Captain Mary Moynihan, Noreen O'Mahony, Breda O'Farrell, Mona Looney and (back) Áine O'Donoghue, Margaret Hickey, Maureen Crowley and Susan Good.

Former Kerry footballer Eamonn Fitzgerald believes that Jack O’Connor needs to tweak his tactics and his personnel ahead of the championship

Mayo, Dublin, Cavan and Sligo were centre stage last weekend, capturing the National League titles. Now the race is on in earnest for the big prizes: the Sam Maguire and the Tailteann Cup.

The former has been well treasured and celebrated in Kerry after their narrow but deserved win over Galway in 2022. Sam has been on tour at all kinds of occasions throughout the county, but Kerry now face competition from several counties. The league revealed that the main dangers to Kerry retaining the title of All Ireland champions 2023 will come from Dublin, Mayo, Galway and Derry. Also hopeful of success will be Tyrone and Armagh. Cork are improving but are not realistic contenders at this stage.

How prepared are Kerry for such oppositions? They were extremely fortunate to win in 2022. A relatively average team depended on the unbelievable last minute free converted by Seánie O’Shea to stave off Dublin in the semi-final and really had to depend on Footballer of the Year, David Clifford, to outscore Shane Walsh in a memorable contest between two great players, before Sam came home.

Fringe Players

Club commitments, particularly by players from Fossa and Rathmore, and the need to give sufficient time to injured players to recover from long-term injuries forced the Kerry management team of Micheál Quirke, Diarmuid Murphy. Paddy Tally and the Boss, Jack, to try out fringe players in the league.

Three wins at home and four away defeats in the very competitive Division 1 meant the threat of relegation raised its head.

Most important of all for Jack O’Connor was to see if they could strengthen last year’s team. Recycling the old will not suffice.

When the celebrations on winning the 2022 title eased off a little, I predicted that last year’s win would not be replicated in 2023 unless there were changes, not just in personnel. But more so in game plans and tactics.

Possible Team

Shane Ryan will be at number 1 with Shane Murphy providing excellent cover.

Jason Foley is also a certainty at full back and will need to be on top of his game to deal with threats from the likes of Brian Hurley, Damian Comer