Daithi Casey: 'I'm more confident now'
Daithi Casey
By John Harrington
Rejection has made Dr Crokes attacker Daithi Casey a better footballer.
He’s excelled for the Kerry champions on the way to Saturday’s AIB All-Ireland Club SFC Semi-Final against Galway’s Corofin.
And he believes one of the reasons he’s in such good form for his club now is because he never quite made the grade as an inter-county footballer.
He was last part of the Kerry panel two years ago, but has no quibble with county manager Eamon Fitzmaurice’s decision to jettison him.
“I was there for all of the league and then I got the lovely phone call,” says Casey.
“Look, I always look back on it, I honestly just wasn't doing it. I can say that very honestly. I wasn't living up to the standards.
“I was playing as a half-forward and it was between myself and Donnchadh (Walsh), I just wasn't doing it to the same level as himself and Mikey Geaney, I think they were the two I was in competition with.
“They were just doing it a lot better than I was at the time. My form wasn't great. I think at the time he made the right call. I've re-evaluated and it made me come back a better player.
“I think I'm more confident now. I wasn't getting that much time. You want to be playing games all the time. Your career is maybe 15 years. I want to be playing as much as I can and enjoying as much as I can. I think that's come back to me this year.”
Daithi Casey
When he was told he was no longer wanted by Kerry, Casey didn’t sulk.
Instead he took a long look in the mirror and realised he was doing what he needed to do in order to fulfil his potential as a footballer.
He changed his holistic approach to the game, improved his work-rate, and that’s why at the age of 26 he is playing the best football of his career so far.
"When I was first coming up at 19 or 20 with Kerry, I was probably a more lazy, skilful fella," he says.
“Over the years, the game has changed so I've had to become more of an athlete and more into the defensive side of it.
“All the wing-backs are made to go forward these days so I've got to follow that. As well as that, because I was so young I didn't appreciate what I had to do make it with Kerry and the professionalism that fellas have these days is just through the roof.
“I just expected that I could go at it so I would say my mind-set has changed in that regard with preparation and nutrition and all these buzz words. That has made a big difference to me.”
Pat O’Shea’s appointment as Dr. Crokes manager has also helped bring Casey’s game to a new level. After being bluntly told by O’Shea that he could do better, Casey resolved to accept the challenge.
“Yeah, I suppose Pat came in at the start of the year and said 'you have more in the locker and we need to get more out of you', I took that as a challenge on myself and I've been happy with how the year has gone,” he says.
“I hadn't performed to the level that I'd like to think over the previous two years, none of us had, we hadn't won, we hadn't done the business.
“I think at the end of the day the players was where we did let the standards slip over the two years and I won't say it was just me, but obviously I would consider myself a leader in the team and the fact that I wasn't doing it regularly and in the big games, I think that affected us not doing it and not winning.”
Daithi Casey
Dr. Crokes won three Munster titles in a row from 2011 to 2013 but then failed to even win their county championship in 2014 and 2015.
They’re very much back to their best now though, and Casey’s form is one of the main reasons why they’re Munster champions again.
If he keeps playing like he did in the Munster Final when he scored three goals against The Nire then he’ll surely have to come into the reckoning for Kerry selection again, but for now he’s more than content to focus on his club football.
“Some people would see it like that, but maybe my time with Kerry could be finished,” he says.
“Is that the end of the world? No, not if we can keep winning with Crokes. That suits me okay. Yes, it is a shop window for fellas but I think it's more a shop window maybe for the likes of Shane Murphy, for Gavin White and the younger fellas to really push on.
“I definitely wouldn't say no if Kerry did come calling but at the moment I'm happy with Crokes and if we can keep being successful with Crokes, that'll be plenty for me.”
