David Moran compares Kerry’s 2014 All-Ireland champions to 2022 team

“That was the big similarity between the two teams…”

David Moran has won an All-Ireland in each of the last three decades, but his ones in 2014 and 2022, were when he shined the most.  

The were two very different teams, with one boasting legends ike Paul Galvin, Kieron Donaghy, and an up and coming James O’Donoghue, while last year’s team had the supernatural David Clifford, his brother Paudie and the fantastic Sean O’Shea. 

Both teams were powerful, strong, full of youth and experience, but they had one similarity in particular that drove them to success. 

Speaking on the latest episode of the GAA Hour, thanks to AIB #TheToughest, the former Kerry midfielder compares the two sides.

“2014 was filled with a lot of guys trying to win their first medal. It was almost like a transition from the old guard to the new guard. 

“You had guys like James O’Donoghue, Paul Geaney, Peter Crawley – they were guys who were winning their first All-Ireland, and they were driving on the set-up, and it was similar to last year, where you had the guys who had won All-Ireland minors were driving it on to win their first medal. 

“That was the big similarity between the two teams. In 2014 you had guys like Marc O’Se, Declan O’Sullivan, Kieran Donaghy, you know, legends of the game, and not that it wasn’t their team, but they were very much cogs in it as opposed to being the mainstays. 

“Similar I guess to the guys who won their second medal last year, it was driven on by guys who hadn’t won one.”

When asked to choose which of his All-Irelands meant the most to him, Moran simply couldn’t bring himself to pick.

“They’re all very different. For me it was different because there was such a big gap between them. 

“I was lucky enough to come on in the All-Ireland final in 2009, you win your first All-Ireland, I was only 20, and it was brilliant.

“In 2014 I was heavily involved in all of the games, and it was very special in its own right and to finish off last year, I was supporting other leaders on the team alongside some of the best players to ever play the game – they’re all very special. 

“It’s like picking one of your kids, they’re all different but I wouldn’t give any of them away.”

Listen to the full discussion on the GAA Hour now.

Related links:

• David Moran opens up on injury nightmare that caused three lost years with Kerry
• “It’s a funny enough county” Paddy Bradley on unusual trait in Donegal that other counties don’t have
• Paddy Bradley lifts lid on Paddy Carr’s resignation and why he and Aidan O’Rourke took over Donegal

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10