Maurice Brosnan's eight football observations: Paudie's possessions, Donegal's despair, and Jack's quiet strength
Kerry player Paudie Clifford, centre, gestures to the crowd during homecoming celebrations in Tralee. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
Shane Ryan set it up. Immediately after the Kerry goalkeeper’s first possession of the final, he came out of his goal and began to roar. Mark O’Shea took one look at the screen in the corner and held up a thumb. Message received.
It was the Dr. Crokes man who collected possession from Ryan and fed it to Paudie Clifford, predictably. Then the midfielder jogged up the pitch to the opposite square. Graham O’Sullivan, Sean O’Brien and Mike Breen followed him. Already, Donegal’s defence was stretched.
There was 1 minute and 45 seconds left on the clock when Ryan collected the ball that Daire Ó Baoill had dropped in. Donegal stayed deep until the hooter sounded. Everyone in Croke Park knew what was going to happen next. No one knows how to stop it.
As soon as Clifford cut across his brother and got his shot off, Jason Foley wheeled away from Michael Murphy with one hand aloft. A five-point lead became seven before the break. But what about the manner in which they did it?
This year of new rules and renewed enthusiasm in Gaelic football has brought with it a curious tendency toward introspection and a constant need to self-analyse.
Part of the process was always going to involve regular adjustments. Another batch of ‘enhancements’ will be trialled on Wednesday night as the Football Review Committee continues its work in the lead-up to October’s Congress.
Now, we’ve become accustomed to spotting any issue and demanding a rule change to resolve it. That passage prompted calls for a shot clock or backcourt rule, the latter of which will be trialled this week in the sandbox game between Round Towers taking on Fingallians, as it happens.
At the same time, there is a strong cohort that takes issue with the chopping and changing.
Sure, it was a one-sided showpiece, but hurling has had six of them in the last decade and admirably manages to avoid any overreaction. The FRC and the stakeholders itself find themselves navigating a delicate balance between too much change and too little. Goldilocks Gaelic football.
And yet, in this specific case, the greatest asset the sport has is the game itself. Donegal’s approach, to sit off and let Kerry work the clock, was punished emphatically with Clifford’s sensational orange flag. The greatest lesson in Gaelic football is a loss.
It goes without saying that a rule change to fix spells like the one we saw before half-time last weekend would come with all sorts of unintended consequences.
A shot clock rewards the team who sits deep, safe in the knowledge that the opposition has to come to them. A half-court rule means those extended bouts of possession would simply play out in a team’s own half. The solution might fix the symptom, but not the cause.
The point is that we’re in a period of profound change. No one knows what a good defensive system looks like right now. The value of chasing two-pointers veers wildly game by game. It’s a cauldron of higher scoring and relentless running and perceived tactical wisdom that shifts every single day.
The world has changed. It will take some time for everyone to change with it.
Here are eight observations from the Gaelic football championship.
With the accolade came the target on their backs.
“We put a lot of pressure on ourselves,” said Paudie Clifford in conversation with RTÉ as the phenomenal graphic flashed on screen. 76 possessions.
Live tagging is a notoriously difficult task but even after our rewatch, that figure proved largely accurate. Clifford had 53 handpasses, 14 kick passes, three points, three more shots and was fouled for four frees. 77 in total. He also had 0-6 in assists.
For Donegal, they knew as soon as the final hooter sounded questions would come about their plan to combat his influence. Possessions in isolation are meaningless. The problem for the Ulster champions is that Clifford is a thinking footballer constantly waiting to make something happen on the ball. A wholesome supply was always likely to result in damage.
Even when they tried to press him aggressively, Clifford picked his way through. The cutback bounce to evade Finnbarr Roarty in the second half was exquisite.
Of course, in hindsight it is obvious to say Donegal should have tagged Clifford. What then? Sean O’Shea finished with 55 possessions, six points (one from play) and two assists. Graham O’Sullivan finished the championship with 21 points in assists. Kerry had a great spread of scorers in the game.
They are an extremely difficult side to stop, regardless of what system they meet. Tyrone were pulled apart man-on-man. Armagh targeted Clifford in their zonal shape. Donegal came with their own distinctive style.
Paudie Clifford’s social media username says it best: CantguardPaud.
For Jim McGuinness, the pain of this defeat will be acute. Kerry’s familiarity with All-Ireland finals was widely referenced post-match, but beforehand, the team with more collective championship appearances was Donegal. Their starting 15 had 544 championship appearances coming into Sunday. Kerry’s figure was 456.
This team looked primed. They successfully integrated a host of bright prospects while finding a place for stalwarts like Ryan McHugh, Michael Murphy and Patrick McBrearty’s bench press. It wasn’t enough.
“There is a lot of hurt behind me. There is a lot of pain behind me,” said McGuinness at the team homecoming as a torrential downpour came down on their gathered supporters.
“I really hope this can be a moment they can latch onto, that will make them stronger, more resilient and bring them to a point where they are in a better position than they were yesterday afternoon in terms of going into a big game and taking on a big team.
“I just want to recognise them and thank them for everything they have done over the course of the last 24 months, their efforts, their commitment, their sacrifice.” He knows what the county is capable of. However, he also knows what it took to get them this far.
“The rain will stop. The sun will shine. I know for a fact Donegal will be back here someday with the Sam Maguire Cup. I hope in my heart of hearts that day is not too far away and I hope everyone on this stage will be part of that and enjoy that moment. We had a fantastic journey over the past two years.”
Pop quiz. How many starting Kerry players didn’t kick the ball once in the 2025 All-Ireland final?
The answer is three. A penny for the thoughts of Gary Fahey and the mild panic that followed Galway’s 1998 breakthrough when he supposedly didn’t kick the ball at all in the final either.
Jason Foley, Dylan Casey and Mark O’Shea did not kick a pass or a shot last Sunday. The number rises to five if you just take it as kickpasses. Neither Sean O’Brien or Joe O’Connor kicked a pass, but they both did have shots. O’Brien clipped a point, O’Connor had one wide and a rasper of a goal.
The numbers reflect their collective performance. Of 42 attacks, 33 by Kerry were predominantly through the hands. Overwhelmingly, they ran the ball. It worked brilliantly.
The Kingdom are traditionalists. They are serial winners too. It was never likely that Kerry would kick into fast, retreating defenders consistently. When the kick was on, like Paudie Clifford’s sensational pass to his brother in the second half, or Graham O’Sullivan’s latest ball down the line for a Clifford wonder score, they did it.
This statistical quirk of their lack of kicking is not a flaw, it’s a feature. Kerry played what was in front of them all year long. When two-pointers presented themselves, they went for it. If not, they didn’t force it. A return of five from 13 attempts last Sunday was impressive.
This is a new group. Previously, Kerry could be considered to have won despite the modern game. On Sunday they mastered it. Kick it when they can, run it while it works.
In the end, Kerry dominated the breaks. Donegal won 12 of their own kickouts clean while Kerry only won two clean. But Kerry won eight breaks to Donegal’s five.
On their own kickout, Kerry won eight clean and seven breaks. Donegal won two of each, while also winning a free when Paul Murphy caught the ball inside the arc. Shane Ryan also sent two over the sideline.
For Ryan’s first kickout, cornerback Dylan Casey took off to run to the opposition’s 65-metre line, where he was unmarked. The ball was directed towards Sean O’Brien on the same wing. By time it landed, Casey had looped back around to the front of the break and Mark O’Shea boxed out behind it.
This level of detail was littered across their performance. BBC pundit Oisín McConville was positioned behind the Kerry management for the game. The thing that coach Cian O’Neill celebrated most was a short kickout win. He understood the value of getting hands on ball.
How they orchestrated this was clever too. Early on, Jason Foley pointed to Paul Murphy to race up the pitch and take his man with him. Donegal were man-to-man at this stage, so it worked. That space was now empty and the former sprinter Foley could race away from 35-year-old Michael Murphy to win the ball.
In this game, just over 40 of the 60-odd shots came directly from a kickout. What does that look like? Consider the start.
Kerry win the throw-in, Kerry score. Donegal win a kickout, Donegal score. Kerry win their kickout, Kerry score. Kerry win a Donegal kickout, Kerry score. Donegal win a kickout, Donegal score. Kerry win a kickout, Kerry score. Donegal win a kickout. Give a guess what happens next?
This the sport. The safety of possession once gained is as prominent as it ever was. Contested kickouts result in a risk in possession but once a team wins it, they are usually set.
We appear to be the only party somewhat uncomfortable with that. There is no doubt there has been major improvements in recent months thanks to the FRC. Could there be more? Is there a way to incentive pressing, increase contact, chaos and collisions?
Christy O’Connor produced the remarkable stat after the 2024 decider. That final had the least number of turnovers ever seen in an All-Ireland final, 20. Last Sunday, it was 29.
Our retiring proposal: In the upcoming sandbox games, trial a more robust tackle and police steps strictly.
Kerry were three points up when Gavin White’s handpass was picked off by Collie Basquel. Paddy Small broke and smashed a goal into Hill 16, suddenly the contest was level.
Fast forward to his next final. White led his county out, took off from the throw-in for one of three assists, scored three points and won a combined total of four kickouts.
Has a redemption arc ever looked so electric? The Dr Crokes man is guaranteed to add to his 2022 All-Star.
Oisin Gallen did not start Donegal’s opening championship ties against Derry or Monaghan. He did start against Down in the Ulster SFC semi-final but was taken off after 49 minutes.
That became a theme. He was called ashore after 64 minutes against Armagh. He came off after 52 minutes against Mayo. It was 49 against Monaghan in the All-Ireland quarter-final and 49 again in the final. At that stage, he had scored three points from three shots and created another three points.
These are the selection calls that come under the microscope after a defeat.
Last April, Kerry manager Jack O’Connor gave one of his most revealing interviews of the year.
Speaking to Paul Rouse, he gave a touching tribute to Mick O’Dwyer. They charted the famous photo of the pair together with Sam Maguire in 2022, O’Connor’s falling out with his club and subsequent move to Waterville to play under O’Dwyer and the weight that comes with managing the green and gold.
“He often said there was 31 and a half counties against Kerry. It often feels a bit like that when things aren’t going well, a lot of your own people aren’t exactly supporting you,” O’Connor said.
“What I often say to the players, of course, no one likes criticism. But it is hell of a lot better than managing in a county where no one gives a damn.”
It goes with the territory.
O’Connor has thought deeply about it across three terms that have now yielded five All-Irelands. He has time to do so in the car, given he lives over an hour from their Killarney training base yet he sets aside space for more.
“I go off a lot on my own to Dromid, there is nice walks there. Myself and my dog Buddy, who is in the back seat here with me, there is a lovely walk out near Ballaghisheen. There is great solitude there. A five-mile trek in the woods, away from everyone. Leave the phone, just yourself and your dog in nature with deer and a few stray sheep, it is just a majestic place to get away from everything.
"It just brings you tranquillity and quietness. It is very important to quiet the mind.”
This week’s stroll will be a particularly sweet one.
