Jack O'Connor reveals ‘practical reason' behind Kerry's Portugal training camp that helped take advantage of new rule
And boss Jack O'Connor says their dearth of orange flags was down to a lack of scope to
work
on one of the key changes introduced by the
Football
Review
Committee.
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En route to being crowned Division 1 champions,
But two-pointers have been prominent throughout their journey to tomorrow's Sam Maguire semi-final against
Seán O'Shea has been Kerry's most prolific shooter from outside the 40-metre arc, with the three he scored in the quarter-final win over Armagh taking his season's tally to 11.
According to O'Connor, his team finally got a chance to sharpen their ability to avail of the bonus points now on offer during a pre-Championship training camp in
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He said: 'The league was so frenetic, we got very little time to actually work on stuff. We played eight games in nine weeks or something like that.
'We played five in a row and in between those games, you're basically recovering. You just have one decent session so you can't work on everything.
'And during the league we were getting goals so there wasn't really that much of a need to go after two-pointers. But since the league, we've worked a bit on it and it is a skill.
'It's a skill getting the right kickers on it and creating the
space
, so we had a bit more time starting with the training camp to work on stuff like that. That was the real practical reason.'
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At the other end of the pitch, O'Connor knows limiting Tyrone's two-point opportunities could be crucial to Kerry's chances of advancing to a third All-Ireland final in four seasons.
The Red Hands aced five outside-the-arc efforts in their quarter-final victory against
shooting
.
Watch RTE pundits' contrasting reaction to full-time whistle of Tipperary's epic win over Kilkenny
Kerry led 1-12 to 0-3 at half-time in Tralee back in February, only for the visitors to emerge victorious after kicking four two-pointers.
O'Connor said: 'It's a big weapon for Tyrone. Their first three scores against Dublin were two-pointers.
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'We saw it against Dublin in the league when we were 12 or 13 points up at half-time and that can disappear very quickly with those two-pointers.
'That opens up a bit more space inside when you have to come out on the kicker so it's a pretty potent combination.'
1
Kerry manager Jack O'Connor with Evan Looney after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship quarter-final against Armagh
Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
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