Graham Shine – Kerry LGFA

Picture this – you are the new Kerry senior ladies manager, you are in the job just over 3 and a half weeks and your first game in the Lidl Ladies National Football League Division 1 is away to reigning league and All Ireland champions Cork. A daunting task but one that newly installed Kerry manager Graham Shine is looking forward to. “I suppose Cork are the kingpins really but it’s time for us to step up to that level. What I’m really looking for is a performance, I don’t expect miracles but I want the girls to go out and try to make the right decisions on the field.We are in a heavy set of training at the moment so the girls legs are bound to be tired. Some of the new girls that we have brought in for training have very little work done so it will take a bit of time to adjust”.

Kerry had a very good league campaign under Alan O’Neill last year. There record reads; 4 wins and 3 losses as well as a heartbreaking 1 point loss to Mayo in the semi final. Cork will provide a formidable challenge for the Kingdom girls on Sunday. In the corresponding fixture last year Kerry defeated the Rebelettes by a single point , 11 points to 2 goals and 4 points in rainswept Brosna. Manager Shine knows that it will be difficult to garner such a result again, especially as Kerry are down some very experienced players from 2016. Former All Star nominees Bernie Breen and Aisling Leonard are unavailable due to work reasons while Jane Lynch and Kate O’Sullivan have pulled out because of college commitments. While the loss of such talented players will of course be felt by Kerry, Shine feels that the league can be used as a learning curve. “Look our main aim will be to stay in Division 1” he said, “that won’t be easy but we will certainly give it our best shot. I want to bring back the hunger into the team again, to get our system right and introduce some new players. We are currently looking all over the county for players, we don’t want to let anyone slip through the net, it’s important that we see everyone that has the potential to be an asset to Kerry. After that it will be all about hard work, the results will come if the work is put in”.

Cork have been keeping very much under the radar since their dramatic All Ireland final win over Dublin last September. Manager Ephie Fitzgerald and his background team are still in place and naturally they will be looking to retain the league title that they won last May when they defeated Connacht kingpins Mayo by 3 points in the final. They will once again call on talents such as All Stars Briege Corkery, Bríd Stack, Deirdre O’Reilly, and Orla Finn to lead the line in this years league and there is no doubt that they will introduce some new blood as well to sharpen things up in the camp.

Graham Shine has never tasted defeat against a Cork team. He has twice been on the winning side as his u/16 team defeated them in successive Munster finals in 2015 and 2016. The senior players are no strangers to victory over their near neighbours either – after all Kerry defeated Cork to win the Munster championship in 2015 and there was that win in Brosna as well last year. It probably is a bit too early into Shine’s reign to expect Kerry to defeat Cork in Mallow next Sunday, but the sight of the red jersey should be enough for Kerry to give a credible performance.

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Graham Shine is the new Kerry Senior ladies manager. The Listowel Emmets clubman went through an interview process last Tuesday evening and was recommended as the best candidate for the position. Shine was ratified at last night’s county board meeting in Connolly Park and his two year appointment was met with universal approval from the delegates present.

Shine has previously managed the Kerry U/16 ladies in 2015 and 2016 with success winning Munster and All Ireland titles in both years with these teams. He also coached the Listowel Emmets and Rathkeale men’s teams in 2016 and he was also the physical trainer with Feale Rangers County Championship team.

A qualified personal trainer and fitness instructor, Shine will be naming his backroom team over the next few days. He has just over 3 weeks to prepare his team for their first round Lidl National Football league Division 1 away fixture against reigning league and All Ireland champions Cork.

Jonathon Griffin of Glenbeigh was also ratified for a 2 year term as the new ladies minor county manager. Griffin, a former Glenbeigh/Glencar footballer and well known referee in the county, will have a number of the successful U/16 girls available to him as Kerry strive to win an All Ireland minor title for the first time since 1995.