“Well Joe Brolly, what do you think of that?”
Having undergone a remarkable renaissance of his own by reclaiming a starting berth in the Kerry side, Kieran Donaghy went out to bat for the other members of the panel in the aftermath of Kerry’s All-Ireland win on Sunday.
Donaghy, whose vital contribution off the bench against Mayo earned Kerry a semi-final replay which they subsequently won to book their place in the final, reserved special mention for Sunday Game pundit Joe Brolly in the aftermath of the Kingdom’s 2-9 to 0-12 win over Donegal which handed them their first title in five years.
Commenting on the perceived lack of talent coming through in the most famed of all footballing counties, Donaghy held their hard-fought win up as evidence to the contrary.
“I think Joe Brolly told us the production line was finished in Kerry - well Joe Brolly, what do you think of that?” the towering forward bellowed over the Croke Park loudspeaker.
As well as having his say in reply to Brolly, ‘Star’ also heaped praise on the younger members of the squad and their manager.
"There's an unbelievable bunch of young lads there. Myself, Declan [O'Sullivan], [Aidan O'] Mahony, and a few of the older guys, the younger guys have really brought us on and, I suppose, they drove it home today.
"We've a great manager in Eamonn Fitzmaurice, who stuck with us when we weren't giving him our best. But he always had faith in us. I'm just privileged and honoured to be able to tog out with them today and help them to this victory,” he added.
As well as claiming the county’s first senior title in five years, the Kerry minors landed the Kingdom’s first All-Ireland in that grade in 20 years to cap a remarkable day for the Kerry that Donaghy described as “possibly the best one yet”.
