Tadhg Morley has stepped up to the plate.
The Templenoe club man was first called into the Kerry panel in 2015, graduating from an All-Ireland winning Kerry junior team, like so many of the Kingdom’s stars do.
His progression in the senior ranks was at first slow, and that’s hugely understandable for a player who hails from a junior club.
That step-up is remarkable, from playing junior club football to top level inter-county senior football but Morley has transitioned into the Kerry senior ranks in as smooth a manner as is possible.
What quantifies this man’s growth in the game even further is that he is the first Templenoe man since the famous Spillane brothers to don the green and gold senior colours.
The Dublin based primary school teacher is a leader, though, having captained this rural club to All-Ireland club glory in February 2015, he was always marked out for success.
He enjoyed three years as a Kerry under-21, one of which was spent under his current manager Eamonn Fitzmaurice, who clearly rates him very highly and doesn’t let this junior club status cloud his judgement.
There is a stigma attached to a player who plays junior grade with their club.
Certain inter-county teams, especially in the age-grades, focus their team around the bigger clubs in the county. These are the clubs who are constantly in the running for the senior championships in the county, or if it is an under-age panel that is in question, the A-grade clubs.
Many managers feel that these players will be better equipped to adapt to the increased pace that an inter-county set-up brings, than a player who is playing intermediate or underage at a B or a C grade.
It is extremely unfair to judge an individual player on the team that they play with.
Morley has been given this chance, and he has repayed this faith.
The Kerry centre back revealed in an interview with the Irish Independent the “culture shock” he encountered when he first joined the panel, which wasn’t helped by the fact that he sat in Colm Cooper’s seat at his first training session.
Morley recalls the huge psychological challenges where you feel you mightn’t be worth your place in the dressing room, and trying to prove yourself can be difficult.
“I remember the first day I came in I might have sat on the Gooch’s seat.
“The couple of training sessions after I noticed he was sitting there and I was thinking ‘Christ, I sat in his seat the first day.'”
“When you walk into the dressing room first you’re a bit unsure of yourself…
He’s slotted in well since, and is now widely tipped for an All-Star at centre back.
“Once you get in for a couple of sessions under your belt then you feel you’re part of it and you feel you can play at that level.”
He’ll be a key cog for Kerry against Mayo on Sunday.
