This year’s Allianz League Division One football final should be a cut above the usual April fare in Croke Park.
Kerry and Dublin will both have different motivations heading into the game, with the memory of the last time both teams clashed in a national final back in September fresh in the memory.
The Dublin team is in chase of four leagues titles in-a-row, while Kerry fans will be praying to every Healy-Rae they voted for to try and make sure the Kingdom do not lose again in Croke Park to their biggest rivals.
Last week Stephen Cluxton played a key role in Dublin’s semi-final win over Donegal to set them up for another tilt at Kerry, and at least one former kingdom footballer feels he is still the open secret to their current football dominance.
Stephen Cluxton is ridiculous. Putting on another exhibition today. He's turned the kick-out into an uncontested scrum.
— Mike Quirke (@Mike_Quirke) April 10, 2016
Stephen Cluxton's kicking has been the difference so far. Absolutely brilliant
— Cahair O'Kane (@CahairOKane1) April 10, 2016
Michael Quirke’s comments won’t surprise anyone who has seen how vital Cluxton is to Jim Gavin, and his predecessor Pat Gilroy, but we were especially curious as to one particular nugget of praise for the Dublin captain.
Writing in his Irish Examiner column, Kerins O’Rahillys man Quirke said he believes Cluxton should be hailed as the most influential GAA player of the last 15 years, because he has revolutionised how teams approach restarts. To the point that no team has figured out how to counteract him.
“In the past 10 to 15 years, GAA presidents have come and gone, Congress is always good for some playing modification, but nobody has come close to having the transformative effect on how Gaelic football is played more than the Dublin goalkeeper.
“Sure, there have been more talented footballers, bigger superstars, but none in my opinion have impacted the shape of the game quite as profoundly as Cluxton.
“…the day Cluxton retires or picks up a serious injury, their (Dublin) world may fall right off its axis, and such is his importance to his team-mates and their game-plan.”
The Kerryman’s comments put Cluxton above his own countymen Kieran Donaghy and Colm Cooper, Sean Cavanagh, Michael Murphy or Conor McManus since the early part of the century, which is a massive claim to make.
Quirke was part of Kerry team that dismantled Cluxton’s kick out in the 2009 All-Ireland quarter-final, while Kerry also enjoyed some success in the 2011 final, as well as the 2013 and 2015 encounters with the Dubs.
Mayo have also had limited success against Cluxton, but the Tralee man feels that Cluxton’s greatness is now highlighted in how he has adapted his game to an opposition’s ‘full press’ or ‘zonal system’ which is designed to frustrate him.
“…If you try the full press on Cluxton for 70 minutes, he will just pick you apart for fun. He wants you to push up, so he can expose you further out. He wants to show you how accurate he is at 50 yards. It’s like a game of chicken for him; he’s just toying with teams.”
It’s almost impossible to argue against Cluxton changing the face of football in much the same way as Donal Óg Cusack’s puck out helped create an entirely new way use of possession and restarts for the Cork hurlers.
It may not ever have been expressed publicly, but Cluxton, and Dublin, must owe a huge debt to the Cloyne man for his speed of thought, and ability to pick out a free man to create wave after wave of Cork attacks.
The Allianz Football League final will give Kerry yet another chance to try and crack the Cluxton code, and for Quirke, the three-time All-Ireland winner’s greatness is easily distilled, but impossible to imitate.
“Last Sunday, he was near his flawless best again against a Donegal zone. His kicking was obviously excellent, but it’s his decision making for me that separates him from all of his contemporaries. He breeds such composure and confidence to his team-mates out the field, by making the right call nearly every time.
“Stephen Cluxton heads towards this summer still firmly as Dublin’s most important player. He’s the only one they really can’t do without. The remaining puzzle that teams must try to solve to give themselves any chance.”
