Since Mick O'Dwyer's first coming in Kildare, there has been much talk of the arrivals from other counties and their importance to the county's renaissance. From the start, O'Dwyer dallied with the idea and Gay McManus, a veteran of Galway's campaigns in the 1980s and living in Naas in the early '90s, was one of the first to flirt with the idea. However, although tried out in challenge games, he never played competitively, injuries hampering his progress with his new suitors. Longford's Lorcan Barden played back in '94, too, but never made much of an impact and was soon on his way.
Of the crop of players from other counties involved in yesterday's squad, Cork's Brian Murphy was the first arrival. A dual minor with Cork, he won an All-Ireland title with the minor hurlers in '85, playing at centre back. Denied a minor double with the footballers the same year (by Mayo), Murphy also won an All-Ireland junior medal with Cork in 1993. His club in Cork was Bishopstown, but by the mid-90s he was working in Dublin. In '97, he threw his lot in with Kildare and the Clane club. He now works with a food processing company in Kildare.
The most-profile arrival was unquestionably the manager's son, Karl O'Dwyer. His Kerry career had fizzled out in the mid-'90s - poor Munster finals in '92 and '93 not helping his standing in the county - and in 1996 he went back to UCC to do a H Dip. A teaching job in Rathangan followed in 1997 and he joined the local club. He featured in Kildare's league campaign (debuting against Down) and made his championship debut for the county against Dublin in '98. He is now playing his club football with Round Towers and teaching in Kildare. Brian Lacey's arrival from Tipperary during the same period was less heralded -indeed O'Dwyer took the attention. A dual player in Tipperary up to his late teens, the Arravale Rovers player turned his attentions to football after his failure to get selected for the county's under-21 squad. His football career flourished and he was a key part of the Tipperary senior team in the mid-90s. His work career took him to Dublin in '96 - he works as a pensions administrator with an insurance company - and after a couple of years commuting, he decided to throw in his lot with Kildare. Jockey Christy Roche, a family friend, influenced his decision to join Micko's squad.
Meath's Cathal Sheridan, a guard, was another to try out with Kildare in recent years, but although putting in good enough performances in the league, where his free-taking often featured, he never quite graduated to the championship XV. He left the squad and played championship hurling with the county this year.
This year's model is Garvan Ware, the Carlow veteran. Also a guard, and based in Dublin, Ware had been commuting up and down to Carlow for some years. He cut his playing ties with Carlow and Eire Og this season, and now plays centrefield for Clane (alongside Brian Murphy) and is part of the Kildare panel. He made no appearance yesterday.
