There is plenty of competition for the half-back line down in Kerry.
Tom O’Sullivan, Tadhg Morley and Paul Murphy have been the first choice three in the League but after St Patrick’s day, that will all change.
That’s because the sprightly Gavin White will be let loose in the green and gold from then on and the way he’s playing, there’s not a half forward in the country who can stay near him. Peter Keane will be buzzing to get him in there.
Saturday in Semple Stadium and the Mullinalghta lads tried their best to keep into him. The 21-year-old road-runner just put the head down, sold a dummy and took off like the clappers.
One of the best examples of this came in the 23rd minute when, with not much going on around him, White tore 50 metres up the field in the space of five seconds and brought every other Crokes player to life. It ended up in a gorgeous score for David Shaw but White was the instigator. He so often is.
He goes even faster with the ball in his hands.
David Shaw with a class point for Dr. Crokes! pic.twitter.com/8OhfljMAC5
— The GAA (@officialgaa) February 16, 2019
He was on The GAA Hour Show on Monday and his mindset is as ambitious as his play.
“You just want to challenge your marker as much as you can as well and to put them on the back foot as much as you can. Whenever you get on the ball, you want to make an impact, whatever way you can,” he said insightfully.
“My running going forward is a big part of my game. I suppose at centre back, you’re a bit more conscious of when you have to hold or things like that, you have to make sure that you’re taking care of your main duties first, and that’s in defence…”
As for Crokes’ breathtaking, free-flowing style – he puts that down to team manager Pat O’Shea, who’d be knocking around the club’s under-8 training sessions.
“I think a lot of that comes down to Pat and the work he has done, not only at senior level but right throughout the club. I can remember when I was only eight or nine and Pat was training me down in Crokes.
“So it has started from there. It’s brilliant to be playing with some serious players, especially with Tony (Brosnan), David (Shaw) and then you’ve Colm (Cooper) coming on…Yeah it’s very enjoyable when things are going right so hopefully we can keep it up now until Paddy’s day,” he added.
Just like Corofin’s Kieran Molloy, White always makes it forward but he always makes it back too. When pushed by Colm Parkinson, he admitted that he’d aim for his GPS stats to be at the very top in the Kerry camp.
“I would like to think so, we don’t wear them with Crokes but I suppose, with Kerry, I’d be fairly high up there…I don’t know about the top one or two, I’d be aiming for the top five or six anyway.”
He enjoyed life in with the Kerry seniors last year, but he’s bidding to make even more inroads this year.
“The Clare game was a highlight for me personally because that was my first senior game for Kerry…there was a lot of players that came into us that wouldn’t have played before…From my own point of view, we were living the life – we were doing what we love, playing football with Kerry first season inside…”
It would take a brave man to bet against him.
You can listen to the White interview here and much from Monday’s GAA Hour Football Show.
The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10
