David Moran baffled at retention of football's advanced mark
STOP START: David Clifford of Kerry calls for a mark after winning the ball ahead of John Daly of Galway in the 2022 All-Ireland final
David Moran can’t understand why the advanced mark hasn’t been shelved when there is so much opposition to it.
While a supporter of the kick-out mark, the former Kerry midfielder is at a loss to explain why the advanced version remains in Gaelic football considering the widespread criticism of the measure.
Speaking to Ian O’Connell’s “Stand Out” show on Radio Kerry this week, Moran said: “I like the mark in midfield for the kick-outs because there was a time there where teams were very good at swarming someone catching a ball and coming down and it’s turnover overcarrying.
“I’m not a fan of the inside mark. To be honest with you, a lot of the commentary I’ve seen is that most people don’t like it. I haven’t seen too many people saying that it’s been good for the game.
“When I see the David Cliffords or the Con O’Callaghans, the Seánie O’Sheas, the Paudies, all the great forwards we have at the moment, you want to see them get the ball and take on their man and there’s a real excitement around it.
“Whereas if they’re getting the ball and it’s stopped and it’s a free shot, teams are using that to their advantage. From a spectator point of view, there’s nothing better than a man going up and it’s one-on-one and the excitement with that.
“I don’t like that rule. Everything that I have seen, I don’t know anyone who does like it. There doesn’t seem to be anything there to reverse it.”
Moran admits midfielder Jack Barry will be greatly missed by Kerry next season but expects Jack O’Connor will have options. Na Gaeil man Barry is off to Australia for the year.
“Diarmuid (O’Connor) showed especially against Tyrone how good he is and is going to be. Diarmuid took a big step forward this year. Jack’s going to be a huge loss I think but you have to do those things as well. There are more things to life than football.
“Hopefully, Joe (O’Connor) will be back, Stef (Okunbor) will be back. Seán O’Brien made a lot of progress this year. Some of the guys in the Kerry squad seem to be coming good. The beauty of Kerry is there’s always someone coming behind you.”
Reviewing his career, Moran regrets not focusing more on skills later in his career. “I just think the skills are so important in a day now when possession is monitored so closely.
“I don’t think they’ve got the balance right a lot of the time between keeping possession and taking a chance so it puts more pressure on your skill execution. If the right pass is a kick-pass 30, 40 yards, you’ve got to get it right.
“In the latter half of my career, if I have any regrets it’s that I didn’t work as hard on my skills as I would have liked as I did when I was younger. Early in the year, I probably missed a few chances in different games that I still think about.”
