Paul Geaney isn’t about to overthink the potential consequences of the bind Kerry might soon find themselves in. Right now, it’s simply Cavan or bust.
The defeat to Meath last weekend has tossed Jack O’Connor’s men on a very different pathway towards the All-Ireland final than the route they had planned.
Should all the preliminary quarter-finals go to script next weekend – with Kerry, Galway, Donegal and Dublin all winning – the Kingdom will face Sam Maguire holders Armagh in an All-Ireland quarter-final because all of the other teams have played the Orchard County in recent weeks.
“It’s just all about Cavan,” says Geaney. “Whatever happens afterwards, it is what it is.
RM Block
“You couldn’t be happy with last Saturday [against Meath], everyone’s a bit disappointed. We just have to regroup and get things right now for this weekend.”
It is a worrying time of the season for a team to deliver such a lacklustre display, but at least it wasn’t a result with terminal implications – the safety net of the prelims provides Kerry with a chance to bounce back this weekend.
“I think we need to nail down some things and need to find the energy that’s required to mount a challenge,” continues Geaney.
“Obviously, if you don’t win this weekend, you don’t deserve to be going any further. But it’s forced us into a one-game-at-a-time mentality, where it’s all about Saturday.”
One of the reasons offered up as a possible excuse for Kerry last weekend was the list of absentees because of injury, of which Geaney was one.
The Dingle forward hopes to be available to face Cavan having missed the Meath fixture because of a shoulder injury picked up against Cork.
About 2018-2019 I found it hard to get motivated
— Paul Geaney
The Meath match was only the second championship fixture Geaney has missed since making his senior championship debut against Cavan in 2013. He was also absent for the defeat to Cork in 2020.
“Obviously, I’ve had my troubles with injuries but it was mostly through league or the off-season, so I was disappointed to miss my second ever championship game last weekend.”
Geaney has undergone back surgery on two occasions to deal with a fracture that was causing recurring hamstring injuries, but the two-time All Star has been playing some of his best football in recent years.
And that is not just because he has been physically in good condition, but mentally Geaney rediscovered his grá for the game, admitting he had fallen out of love with football.
“I did, yeah. About 2018-2019 I found it hard to get motivated,” he said. “In the off-season [after 2018], I probably felt I might pack it in. I wasn’t playing as good or I wasn’t invested. I wasn’t giving everything to the club either in a lot of senses.
“I might have been just sick of it, looking back. But I’m glad I stuck at it for a while because if I did step out, I don’t know would I have had it to come back.
“I just kind of fought through that patch. I was decent in 2019 and then just fought my way back little by little, getting on a good trajectory to being at my best, which I feel I’ve been at the last two years.”
The new rules have certainly helped too.
“Yeah, that would be a fair comment. I was an out-and-out corner forward at the start.
“And I suppose I started to be more of a false nine than an out-and-out striker in the soccer sense for a lot of those years, where you were kind of more of a link player and weren’t scoring as heavily.
“Then obviously there was a lot of defensive work that was needed because the backs started going up the field and you had to mark your man.
“It was nearly more important then to make sure the corner back wasn’t scoring 1-3 than you getting 1-3. So, things changed slightly in there.
“But the new rules have kind of flipped it back the other way. I’m still a link man but I get to be the out-and-out striker the odd time as well, so you enjoy that.”
There is no sense the 34-year-old is viewing the next few weeks as any sort of farewell tour.
“I’d love to play for as long as I can wear a Kerry jersey,” said Geaney.
“Obviously, S&C (strength and conditioning) has come a long way; I wish I was at the receiving end of it earlier in my career.
“I had a thing with my back surgeon there two years ago and he said, ‘whatever you’re doing, keep doing it because it’s keeping you healthy’. So I’ll just do it as long as I can.”
