Monday's GAA In The Papers

Catch up on all the latest news, views and GAA-related rumours in www.gaa.ie's latest daily feature, GAA In the Papers.

Paul Galvin has admitted that he was close to quitting inter-county football last year, the Irish Examiner reports.

Galvin spent much of last year on the sidelines with a hip/groin injury and in an interview broadcast on Setanta Sports, he revealed that he spoke to manager Jack O’Connor about ending his Kerry career.

“Last year was really difficult," Galvin said on the iTalkSport programme yesterday. "As tough as 2010 was, last year was even more difficult. I did consider whether I would play on. I had a couple of conversations with Jack about it and I was closing to going. I just felt I had no more in me."

Seanie Johnston is still hopeful that his inter-county transfer from Cavan to Kildare will go through, but he says he understands that breaking into the Lilywhites’ squad will be very difficult.

"The Kildare set-up is very professional,” he told the Irish Examiner. “I’m not expecting to just walk in and get a place in the panel. I’d have to go through the ranks, whether that be junior or whatever.

"A few weeks and a few games there, hopefully if I prove myself to be good enough, then I’ll get called up to the senior squad at some stage in the coming year. But I know it’s going to be tough, I’m putting in a lot of hard training but you want to be playing games.”

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Donegal manager Jim McGuinness says his players will benefit from playing Division I football this year, despite the opening day defeat to Down on Thursday.

"I was disappointed with the last 10 minutes. We were on the back foot for long periods but, having worked our way back into the game and gone ahead, we didn't push on from there," he said.

"We were without a few key players and have a bit of work to do, but we will take a few positives from the game.

"We will use the league to develop a few things and push on from there. We will improve with more games.”

Meanwhile, Armagh manager Paddy O’Rourke expressed sympathy with Cork’s Paul Kerrigan, who was sent off in the Rebels’ Allianz League draw with the Orchard County on Sunday.

"It's a pity about young Kerrigan,” he told the Irish Examiner. “He probably didn't need to go. A booking would have done him, but it happens. It's not too hard to get sent off nowadays.”

Kerry manager Jack O’Connor was delighted with Saturday night’s Allianz League win over Dublin at Croke Park, where he got to run his eye over a number of new players.

“I thought all of our young lads played very well,” said O’Connor in the Irish Times. “(Peter) Crowley and (Shane) Enright were very tenacious at the back and James O’Donoghue was very lively and Barry John Keane. It was a great game for those young fellas to get in the month of February up in Croke Park.

“We need to keep finding players. We’ve had a big turnover since 2009, something like seven or eight new players and if you’re going to stay on the road you have to keep finding new players.”

Tyrone manager Mickey Harte sounded a note of warning after his side’s impressive win over Kildare in the Allianz League Division II opener at Croke Park on Saturday night.

“People say the standard rises when you go into the league,” said Harte in the Irish Times, “and there is no doubt but that is the case. Again, the old story, one swallow doesn’t make a summer.

“We could have been beaten there just as handy but we got the breaks at the right time to give us a foothold in the game. But there were periods when we were on the back foot as well so we are no finished product. We are a team in the making again.”