Kildare forward Darragh Kirwan on the rules, panel, and much more

It is hard to believe — and even some times forgotten — that it was only back in 2018 that Darragh Kirwan was an integral part of the Naas CBS team that won the Leinster Post Primary Schools 'A' final (now the Bro Bosco Cup), a win that was the start of a phenomenal successful time for the school team, culminating in an All-Ireland Hogan Cup victory in 2022.
How time flies.

The Naas man, who has been named vice-caaptain for 2015, it is fair to say, has lived up to his early potential and is now looked upon as one of the top class forwards around as he prepars for his fifth season at inter-conty level when Kildare open their AFL account against Fermanagh on Saturday.

While a lot has changed in Kildare since Darragh made his debut, under manager Jack O'Connor, it pales into insignificence to what the game of football is about to now see with Jim Gavin's new rules now in vogue this weekend for the first time at competitive level.

Rule changes
So what does the Naas man make of the many changes?
“As a forward I would say the' three up three back' will certainly create more space and that's for sure; in times gone by playing 'inside' you would often get frustrated on the lack of space to take on your man and so on but that opens up a whole lot of opportunities now while on the flip side maybe the 'dissent' rule will be a game-changer and while I would agree with promoting the cultural changes, the back-chat and all that sort of thing, there are a lot of gray areas in what is and isn't dissent and that may cause complications when games get tight and stuff like that.”

A harsh penalty?

“Yes, a very harsh penalty, 50m and if that occurs around the middle of the park then that is practically a tap-over 20m free essentially but I suppose the onus will be on us (players) to make sure we are highly disciplined in that regard, these things can be very costly when it happens but then again there is a responsibility on the county players to adapt to these new rules quickly and in turn bring those back into their clubs when that time arises.”

Exciting time
Looking at the Kildare panel and a lot of changes this time around under new manager Brian Flanagan and his management team?

“Absolutely, there has been huge wings of change around the place, from the management; the county committee, the new stadium, new rules, but it is a very exciting time so far in the squad, there has been a very positive atmosphere.

“Flanno (Brian Flanagan) and the lads has brought huge energy and enthusiasm and I would like to think that has been strongly reciprocated by the players, so yes definitely, there is a great blend of the younger lads that have come in and also the experienced lads so overall a really good blend.”

On his own fitness level and pre-season training the Naas sharp shooter is extremely positive despite having to leave the pitch in a challenge against Cavan some weeks ago in Hawkfield.

“That was just a minor thing, more precautionary than anything else but from my point of view “it has been a very positive pre-season; the first one in a while I have got to do the proper six to eight weeks pre-season; in times gone by with Naas the club scene has gone into December and while I wouldn't change that for the world it does hamper your preparation for the national league so I am certainly in a more positive place this year and confident in the work I have done and I think all the club lads are in a similar boat.”

New management, has there been many changes, prepartion-wise than what you have experienced previously.

“Not vastly different I would say, most teams largely do the same thing but as I said earlier, the lads (management) have brought a huge energy and enthusiasm to the set-up; they are mentally driven to get Kildare back to where we all what to be; yeah, so far it has been great.

A big game this Saturday evening, Fermanage and then Sligo, pressure from the word go?

“There is pressure all the time, no matter what, but at the end of the day it is all result driven; you live and die by results; so we will be going off in a positive mood from the first day out and take it from there but really we can't look beyond Fermanagh which will be a very tough opener; you know how it went last season up in Enniskillen; we are under no illusions of the challenge coming down the road.”

New stadium
And on the revamped Cedral St Conleth's Park, the Naas man had nothing but the height or praise.
“It is phenomenal, there is a standard of excellence to it and everything about it and that can only filter down to the teams from senior to development squads and so on but it is really something to be very, very proud of and we are certainly looking forward to going in there come next Saturday night.”

Kildare played Down a week ago and Daragh said on the way home on the bus the players were looking at the game on the TG4 Player and loads of comments on how the pitch looked, it just will add to the excitement to getting in there; the close-knit element of the stadium all adds to the excitement and atmosphere of it, so something really to look forward to; there is no point having a stadium of 20-25,000 capacity and then half empty; now we know that for most games that stand will be full and that will filter down the line to the players; so everything positive so far but as I said we will live and die by our results and all the focus now is on Saturday evening next at Cedral St Conleth's.”