“James indicated that he wanted to take some time out from the Kerry set-up.”
James O’Donoghue made the decision last weekend to step away from the Kerry senior panel, before their Munster final with Cork.
The 2014 Footballer of the Year, has yet to make Peter Keane’s 26-man squad this season and hasn’t featured for The Kingdom since a league match against Galway, back in February 2020.
Kerry GAA chairman and senior football team liaison officer Tim Murphy confirmed that O’Donoghue has left the Kerry squad and returned to his club Killarney Legion.
“James indicated that he wanted to take some time out from the Kerry set-up and play some club football to see could he get some form back and see where that would take him.
“It probably means that he will not be involved if we beat Cork because we have a very short window with everything to be completed within 4/5 weeks if Kerry does go all the way.”
O’Donoghue lined out for Killarney Legion in the County League on Saturday evening and scored the opening goal in a win over Kenmare Shamrocks.
The forward finished the game with a total of 1-2, despite only playing for the first half.
2014 was the year that we saw the best of him, as he played an instrumental part in helping Kerry win their last All-Ireland title, but he has been plagued with injuries since then.
At 31-years-old, and seemingly not in Peter Keane’s plans, it looks like this could potentially be the end for the All-Star’s inter-county career.
