Events of last weekend have fuelled Kerry’s confidence as they move into the knockout stages of the Championship, says Gavin White.
Having lost their opening Group 1 game to Mayo, White admits that Kerry were bracing themselves for a preliminary quarter-final this weekend.
But Cork’s surprise win over Mayo coupled with Kerry’s comprehensive 5-24 to 0-11 victory against Louth allowed the All-Ireland champions to move to the top of the table and earn a weekend off as they moved straight into the quarter-finals.
White explained: “Obviously, going into that Mayo game we would have felt we were in a good position. The way it turned out, we obviously weren’t and that was only our own fault.
“The weekend gone now probably gives it a bit more confidence that we can push on further. In the Munster Championship, we had two very good wins and thought we were in a very good position physically, tactically and everything like that.
“Obviously, Mayo and playing Division One they showed we were a small bit behind and we had to catch up and thankfully we did.”
Injury kept White out of action against Louth and so he kept abreast of developments in Limerick between Cork and Mayo.
“I was on the phone on the stand when we were a nice bit up so I was keeping an eye on it. We weren’t expecting it, to tell you the truth. We just kind of presumed we’d be looking forward to a prelim quarter-final and that wasn’t taking Louth for granted or anything like that.
“We just thought that was the way it was going to go. But look it, we’ll take it. It’s certainly a surprise but the week off is definitely a big help.”
And the wing-back says he expects to be available to manager Jack O’Connor once the quarter-finals roll around on the weekend of July 1/2.
“Unfortunately, the physios didn’t think it was worth the risk to play at the weekend. The way it worked out, it was probably the right thing to do.
“There was a small bit of tightness in the calf the last night at the start of training so it’s nothing major. I would be ok to play this weekend if we had a game this weekend so should be fine the week after.”
The new Championship system has its pros and cons but the drama of last Sunday has won some people over - and White is one of them.
“If results didn’t go our way at the weekend, I would probably say I wasn’t a fan of it. Obvious, the answer now is it’s a very good structure.
“I suppose down through the years players have been saying the more games, the better especially in Kerry when if you won a Munster Championship you’d probably have a break of six, seven, eight weeks I would say. It was just too long.
“When you’re training, it’s probably hard to keep up the motivation levels up for a longer period of time. I’m certainly a big fan of it.
“Obviously, with that comes huge challenges. If you’re playing three games in three weeks over the next couple of weeks, it’s going to bring obvious challenges with injuries and being fresh and whatever.
“I suppose if I had to tweak anything it would be the two weeks – the two weeks is probably the key thing. Having a game every two weeks is probably optimal.
“But it certainly makes it a bit interesting that if you come second or third (in the group), you’re playing straight away rather than two weeks. I think the next month will show how tweaks can be made there but apart from that I’m very happy with it.
“Probably a slow burner at the start from the outside (looking in) but last weekend probably showed it’s worth keeping.”
