No panic on the streets of Dublin just yet, but when the capital’s senior footballers last suffered defeats in their opening two Division One National Football League games that campaign ended in relegation.
Dessie Farrell’s side might feel they deserved more from last Saturday’s trip to Castlebar but the report card after two weekends shows losses to Monaghan and Mayo.
There is a largely insouciant outlook among Dublin fans to the prospect of relegation, a brashness that sliding down to Division Two would impact the Dubs in much the same way as a February downpour. They’ll be well dry come July.
Plus, playing outside the top flight didn’t exactly do them much harm in 2023. Still, it’s always better to be winning than losing, even in these early weeks of the season.
“We’re two games in without a win so it’s time to start picking up a couple of points,” says experienced forward Cormac Costello.
“We don’t want to get relegated again but we know it’s going to be difficult, the level in Division One is so high, the standard is so high, and we have some really competitive and tough games coming up.
“We’re under no illusions that we need to pick up our performances to get a couple of wins to stay in Division One. I don’t know the exact stats, I think six points usually keeps you up. So yeah, you need three wins out of five at least.”
If Dublin are to chalk up those victories then chances are it will be Costello keeping the scoreboard ticking over. He was his side’s top scorer in Mayo on Saturday night, with three of his 0-4 coming from frees.
The Whitehall Colmcille clubman was also Dublin’s leading marksman against Monaghan in their league opener, scoring 1-4 – with all four points coming from frees.
The retirement of Dean Rock has left the free-kicking responsibilities primarily in the hands of Costello now – though Paddy Small and Paul Mannion can also take them from certain angles, while goalkeeper David O’Hanlon has floated over a couple of long-range frees already this term.
But Costello will be Dublin’s chief free-taker this term – the eight-time All-Ireland winner deputised in the role for most of last season as Rock’s contribution was largely off the bench.
“It’s just a responsibility or a role that you have, everybody gets tagged with certain roles in different games and obviously the free-taker is a big role,” says Costello.
“It’s a great honour to be given the frees, it’s about executing and doing the role to the best of your ability for the team. I suppose last year I would have been tasked with taking the frees as well, Dean was still on the panel, he came on, he kicked some big scores for us.
“I’m taking them my whole life, but Dean has set the bar so high, it’s time I follow suit.
“Dean was a massive servant to Dublin, not only with his performances on the pitch in those clutch moments, the man who steps up over the last few years has been Dean, he’s so reliable.
“Even just his experience in general in the dressingroom is going to be missed and the craic, but I was surprised, I thought he might go again. But he has a young family there, a young daughter, Sadie, as well so he’s given enough to the Dublin jersey and we wish him all the best in his retirement.”
Pat Gilroy has not returned to the backroom team yet for 2024 either, and it remains to be seen if the former Dublin manager will be involved with Farrell’s management this season.
Gilroy, who managed Dublin to All-Ireland glory in 2011, was invited by Farrell to link up with his backroom team last season.
“He’s not around at the minute but I actually don’t know what the plan is,” says Costello on Gilroy’s involvement.
Dublin’s next league game is against Roscommon in Croke Park on Saturday, February 17th, followed by a glamour fixture against Kerry at the same venue on Saturday, February 24th.
It remains to be seen if any of the more experienced players will have returned by then, though if Michael Fitzsimons is among them then Costello might try stay clear of the Cuala defender in the warm-up.
In the moments before last year’s All-Ireland final, cameras caught Costello landing a big hit on Fitzsimons during Dublin’s prematch small-sided game. Fitzsimons, who marked David Clifford in the decider, reacted angrily to the collision, but Costello has an explanation.
“In the game against Derry in the league earlier in the season, we were doing the warm-up, backs against forwards, and I kind of ran in and gave Fitzy a good dunt. He got a bit rattled and started laying into me.
“After the match, he said, ‘that was brilliant, it really fired me up. It really got me tuned in’. So from that moment, for the whole year, I used to give Fitzy a dunt. But in the final, as I was coming he wasn’t looking at me. Usually he’d see me coming – I wasn’t going to tip him on the shoulder!
“It looked bad now in fairness because he nearly got whiplash. But look, it did the job.”
– Cormac Costello was speaking at the announcement of Dublin GAA’s new official protein partner, GetPRO.
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