Jason Foley looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in Kerry’s recent six-point win over Roscommon and five-time All-Ireland winner Tomás Ó Sé believes Foley will be a massive miss for the Kingdom.
As reported this week, Foley could miss out on the entire Munster Championship campaign as Kerry target an 11th title in 12 seasons, starting with a semi-final showdown with either Limerick or Cork.
Foley has been rock-solid in the Kerry defence for the last number of years and has made the number three jersey his own. The Ballydonoghue clubman earned an All-Star award in 2022 for his performance in helping Kerry win their most recent All-Ireland title.
While defenders such as Brian Ó Beaglaoich and fellow 2022 All-Ireland winner Tom O’Sullivan are on the mend and set to return from their own injury problems, Ó Sé - who was speaking at Eirgrid's launch of the 2024 U20 All-Ireland Championship - is adamant Foley’s absence will be “a huge loss.”
“He’s been a great player for the last few years,” said Ó Sé of Foley. “You always need a player in the full back line who can mark fellas and he’s been given tough jobs in the last few years, and he’s done really, really well.
“He’s quietly gone about his business and suddenly we’re all talking about him when he has an injury, he’s one of these fellas that negates players and would be key for Kerry and will be a huge loss.
“I don’t know how serious the injury is. I saw they were talking about him missing the Munster Championship and all that. He’ll be a huge loss and it’s not as if Kerry has huge strength in depth.
“They have Brian Ó Beaglaoich to come back, Tom O’Sullivan to come back, so they have players and they’re not going to be caught but at the same time if they’re thinking of bigger things then they’ll need all their best players and he’s one of them.”
20 March 2024; In attendance at the launch of the 2024 EirGrid GAA Football U20 All-Ireland Championship is Kerry U20 manager Tomás Ó Sé. EirGrid, the operator of Ireland’s electricity grid, is leading the transition to a low carbon energy future. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile
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Ó Sé on the mood in Kerry ahead of the Championship
Kerry are among the favourites to win this years All-Ireland title, as they usually are, and are currently one of the top three contenders alongside Derry and Dublin. A win this weekend against Galway could see Jack O’Connor’s side reach the Division One final.
Ó Sé points out that the reigning Sam Maguire holders Dublin are the team to beat at the minute, but a lot can change in the coming weeks and Kerry will build as the year goes on.
Having lost last year’s All-Ireland final to Dessie Farrell’s side, there’s a fairly negative feeling around the Kingdom but Ó Sé insists that due to their attacking talents, they’ll always be in with a great shout.
“Everybody is looking to Dublin at the moment, they flexed their muscles lately but give it a few weeks,” added Ó Sé. “I think the mood in Kerry is that we’re going to have to improve defensively but that you’ll always have a chance if we can keep the forwards that we have fit.
“There’s talk about strengthening midfield but wait until they get to the starting line. It tends to happen in Kerry that they lose an All-Ireland, it doesn’t matter how close they were or it doesn’t matter that they were in a final, they lost and it’s treated in such a way that everyone looks at all the negatives.
“If they make progress in the championship then the hope will start coming again so you can’t make a real call on Kerry until they get into the middle of the All-Ireland series if they get there.”
