It’s a badly needed hurling week from the Dublin footballers' perspective, an opportunity to step away from the coalface and to take stock after three consecutive weekends of action and two lengthy road trips.
“There’s a lot of fatigue in the system,” acknowledged manager Dessie Farrell. “You know, back-to-back, back-to-back, and it’s not just the playing of games, it’s the training, it’s the prep, it’s the analysis, it’s the video footage.
“It’s really, really intense and I know cognitively and physically there’s a lot there that’s probably difficult to deal with.”
It probably explains some of the lethargy in Dublin’s first-half performance against Armagh last Saturday evening, though not all, with Farrell complaining about appetite and application on the evening.
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The players were given “a few days” off afterwards but it’ll be a short break. The season is only just getting going for a Dublin side retaining big ambitions but haemorrhaging experience.
Seven-time All-Ireland winner John Small is the latest player to be linked with the exit door. He hasn’t featured for Dublin yet this year and while Farrell confirmed after the Armagh game that younger brother Paddy is back involved, he said John isn’t.
That was the extent of the information until former Laois footballer Colm Parkinson claimed on his Smaller Fish podcast this week that he has it on good authority that the Ballymun man won’t be available this year.
Small has been a hugely significant figure in Dublin’s defence since his championship debut in 2015. In the last three years alone, he’s started 20 of their 21 championship games, returning a healthy 2-9.
Dublin supporters will reason that no official news is good news having already lost five other starters from last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Galway; Michael Fitzsimons, Jack McCaffrey, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy and Paul Mannion.
The talent drain has prompted significant experimentation and as things stand after five rounds of the league, Dublin are only behind Kerry in terms of the Division One teams who have used the most players.
Of the 30 players they’ve used, eight made league debuts; goalkeeper Gavin Sheridan, former AFL player James Madden, ex-Dublin hurlers Eoghan O’Donnell and Davy Keogh, Conor Tyrrell, Alex Gavin, Kevin Lahiff and Niall O’Callaghan.
There could be more debuts to come too as Clontarf duo Nathan Doran and Calum Ahearne have been unused substitutes in recent league games against Derry and Armagh.
Cormac Costello made his seasonal return in Armagh but Stephen Cluxton still hasn’t featured, nor the Small brothers. Seán Bugler, Dublin’s standout performer this term, limped off with a calf injury against Derry and didn’t play against Armagh, though Farrell has assured it is a short-term setback.
With all the flux, you might imagine Farrell would fancy more league games to nail down his championship XV, though he doesn’t necessarily agree that there should even be a final.
“I think there’s definitely an element of that,” said Farrell, agreeing with the suggestion that the new rules have commanded more attention than any title challenges this year.
“You could argue that just a straight league and no league final is probably the way forward because it’s so condensed, like the three weeks back-to-back we’ve just been on.”
Con O’Callaghan has kicked three two-pointers for Dublin across their last two games, though Farrell said they are still navigating how to best exploit the double-score opportunity.
“You might think it’s a panacea but it can actually throw momentum back in the other direction again,” said Farrell, referencing two-point attempts that fly wide or drop short. “It’s definitely one that needs to be navigated and thought about properly.”
Tweaks to rules in advance of round six are anticipated with Jim Gavin, Farrell’s predecessor in the Dublin hot seat, stating as much on Tuesday’s Morning Ireland programme.
“Supporters, teams, you know, we’re in a period of experimentation,” said Farrell whose goalkeeper Evan Comerford was twice penalised for not getting kick-outs away inside 20 seconds against Armagh.
“It’s going to be difficult. I’m not going to stand here and point the finger of blame at anybody but it is confusing.
“I don’t know how, in terms of practically, how that’s being monitored, the time of a kick-out. But it’s probably something that the committee in charge will take a look at.”
