Some will agree, some won’t.
It’s a tradition in Kerry that their football team captain for the year is a member of the club that won the previous year’s county title.
That method meant Johnny Buckley, who was the Dr. Crokes county, Munster and All-Ireland winning captain in 2016/2017, became the Kingdom senior football skipper for the 2017 season.
He was a natural fit for the job, given that he was a proven winner and a proven leader.
The Killarney outfit made it back-to-back county championships this year and, now, they’re vying to double up on their provincial honours in the last two years too.
On The #GAAHour, @drcrokesgaa All-Ireland winning captain Johnny Buckley tells us about @Kerry_Official legend Colm Cooper#TheToughest @AIB_GAA https://t.co/yTeJMs2vGR pic.twitter.com/4yRcvtDDcv
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) November 23, 2017
On The GAA Hour, Johnny Buckley explained that no-one has been nominated yet from the club to take over skipper duties for Kerry – but he revealed that they will decide that amongst themselves.
“That’s how it works (it’s a club decision – Dr. Crokes will put forward a captain.) I suppose the players involved will sit down with the club representatives and have a general discussion, and from that decision, that’ll be passed on to the county board to be ratified,” the 28-year-old said at the AIB GAA Provincial Club Finals Media Day.
“There’s a few formalities about it, but it’s whoever the club decides then, they go on to do it.”
For some foreign to Kerry, it’s a strange way of doing things rather than picking the obvious captain of the group to lead.
“There’s good and bad in it. It’s worked well over the years,” Buckley told The GAA Hour.
“Any team that wins a county Championship will have a couple of county players involved. There are pros and cons in both methods, but this one seems to be working well.
“It didn’t pan out in the end [2017] as we had hoped but it’s an enjoyable year. It was a great honour for me.”
But it wasn’t like it added any extra pressure.
“I didn’t mind it really. I suppose I’ve been around there for a few years and I’m well used to the set-up.
“It’s funny, it’s kind of a captaincy by title, because when you’re in that dressing room, there’s plenty of leaders around the place and there’s no more pressure on you than any of the others.
“It’s just kind of an enjoyable role really.
“You say your couple of words, but you’d be doing that kind of stuff anyway. As they say, unlike in different teams where there might be an onus that the captain does X, Y and Z. But it’s just if a fella has something to say, then he says it. They take a lot of the slack as well, and do a lot of the talking.”
For 2018? It will be a Crokes player again. Whether that’s Buckley or not is still up in the air.
“There’s nothing decided yet,” he said.
“The inter-county season hasn’t kicked back yet. It’ll be another while, we’ll see how this weekend goes. We’ll probably sit down with the club and the management and see what we’ll do.”
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