Gavin Cummiskeytalks to Kerry's talented forward who is expecting a stern test from their great rivals at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday
Sheehan was the one angle that Monaghan had not covered.
SO SAID The Irish Timesreport from Kerry's desperately tight All-Ireland quarter-final victory over Monaghan last summer. Bryan Sheehan would be a fixture in any other intercounty team, but the St Mary's man has only just elbowed Mike Frank Russell out of the green and gold number 15 jersey.
A 58th-minute replacement for Russell against Monaghan, he squeezed over two points in the nerve-jangling endgame. For a brief period it looked like the Ulster men would hold on for the greatest upset Croke Park has seen since Offaly denied Kerry a five-in-a-row in 1982.
The legacy of this Kerry crop would have been irrevocably altered. Pat O'Shea would probably not be patrolling the sideline for a second season. Talk of three-in-a-row and comparisons with the greatest pack of Kingdom footballers would have been shelved. Heck, Darragh Ó Sé may have even walked away.
A one-point difference separated them. The margin for error truly is that small in sport.
Now, entering the Munster final, Sheehan is finally part of the woodwork. He made his championship debut in 2005, he has three All-Ireland medals dating back to 2004 and is considered a quality free-taker, but it was his contribution against Monaghan that ensured a starting role against Dublin (kicking 0-3) and subsequently he got in on the flaying of Cork last September.
With Declan O'Sullivan and Paul Galvin watching in their civvies this Sunday, Sheehan will be expected to take on a more prominent role out the field.
"I feel more settled in the team now, especially this season, having played all the league games bar the final.
"It takes a while to get used to the pace and physicality, but you can't take your foot off the pedal because there are four or five fellows waiting to get their chance, especially after the under-21s winning the All-Ireland."
The two absentees are significant, even for a panel of Kerry's impressive depth.
"Paul Galvin and Declan O'Sullivan are the engine of the team with their work-rate and they will be missed. They're great at picking up the breaking ball and tackling back.
"We played most of the league campaign without them because of injury and it showed we've the strength in depth to cope.
"Paul has that spark about him and his passion for the game is well known. It's done and dusted now and we can't do anything about it. The county board are doing everything they can to help Paul. We've got to focus on the Munster final."
That Tomás Ó Sé was been promoted to the captaincy can be seen as an immediate positive. "Tomás is in great form. His fitness levels are high and you can see in him that he's revelling in the role. Tomás talks a bit more because he's captain, but other than that it's all the same."
With equally concerning noises coming from the Cork camp - Graham Canty has a shoulder injury and James Masters has not been picked - you imagine Kerry, even in the lower gears of July, should have enough.
"Form goes out the window when Kerry play Cork in a Munster final. I think it will boil down to whoever is the hungrier side on the day.
"I'm sure Cork will come out with all guns blazing after what happened in last year's All-Ireland final. If the shoe was on the other foot, I'd know we'd be like that. We've just got to be ready for it."
