Cambell fears Donaghy impact with Kerry is a 'scary thought'
Stefan Campbell of Armagh and Kieran Donaghy celebrate after the 2024 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Armagh and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
By John Harrington
Former Armagh footballer Stefan Campbell says the improvement that Kieran Donaghy could bring to the Kerry attack this year is “a scary thought”.
Donaghy worked as a forwards coach with Armagh for five years from 2021 to 2025 and on stepping away from the role immediately joined Jack O’Connor’s Kerry backroom team.
Campbell is worried that a man who did so much to improve his own game will have a similarly positive impact in Kerry and also give Jack O’Connor the inside track on the 2024 All-Ireland champions.
“Yeah, that's the fear probably from an Armagh perspective, what he's bringing back down (to Kerry), he obviously has the playbook from the last five years,” said Campbell at the launch of the GAA+ 2026 Season Pass.
“He definitely improved me as a footballer. He was able to correct my technique. I kicked a lot of balls in the air, if the balls were going over they were dropping on the net and the ball would just spend too much time in the air. He noticed that from even before he came into Armagh.
“One of the first times (I encountered him) he corrected my game, basic stuff but he nailed it, keep the head down, get that full follow through. Whereas you'd be maybe leaning back and trying to see where the ball is going first. It gives the ball more hang time and would be taking distance off your strike. That's where I sometimes would have struggled. He noticed that straight away.
Former Armagh footballer and GAA+ pundit Stefan Campbell at the 2026 GAA+ Season Pass and match broadcast schedule launch at the new GAA+ studio facility in Croke Park. Fans can avail of 40 exclusive live matches in Ireland for €95 via GAAplus.ie Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
“His big coaching point is that he does everything at match pace. So that's the thing, when he was correcting my technique, maybe in the middle of the session or after a session, everything was done at match pace. His point was, what's the point of practising at half pace? Then you come out in Croke Park and time is very scarce when you're out there.
“It's about getting that ball out of your hands as quickly as possible but it's about having that technique and having that follow through, and keeping everything aligned. The big players don't have to think about that stuff because it's so natural to them. But it was a great starting point for me, I wouldn't just have been as natural as the likes of Rian and Rory and these boys.
“But he (Donaghy) is huge and the danger is, how much is he going to improve that forward line? Are they over reliant on David? Obviously not. But if he can go down there and improve them in terms of those back doors, the overloads, the manipulation, you know, the stuff that comes from that basketball defence and how you manipulate it, it's a scary thought.
“Hopefully...ah, it would be silly of me to say that he hasn't shared the full (Armagh) playbook. But I think from an Armagh perspective we would have preferred if he'd taken a year out instead of going directly back home to what we see as a rival for the All-Ireland.
“But I wish him the best, he did a lot for us, he gave up a lot of his time and at the end of the day, he's not only a Kerry legend but he's an Armagh legend as far as I'm concerned too.”
