It’s obviously impossible to get a true reading of any game when you’re listening on the radio as opposed to being there. Driving south last Sunday with the family for a few days Easter break, my first assessment of Dublin against Wicklow was thanks to East Coast FM, and whatever snippets were on RTÉ, before watching back a few highlights later.
On further reflection, there’s no mistaking the overall sense of disappointment around Dublin’s performance, even if they won by nine points in the end. Words like spluttering and lethargy were thrown about, and by Dessie Farrell’s own admission a performance like that just won’t be good enough from here on.
First, I’d give credit to Wicklow. They clearly have some fine footballers and just seven days after beating Longford, a game which went to extra-time, raised their performance again. Playing on their home ground in Aughrim they outscored Dublin on two-pointers, four to two, showing up Dublin’s lack of real fire on the day.
Some comparisons were made with Dublin’s performance at this stage of the Leinster championship four years ago when we travelled to Wexford for the quarter-final and attendances were still limited to few hundred people because of Covid. Dublin only scored 15 points that day, winning by eight, and then later in the semi-final against Mayo we surrendered our All-Ireland title.
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I think there are a few different factors to consider with Dublin this time. If you look at the championship as a whole, the big build up to your first game just isn’t there any more. Before the split season there was always a break after the league. You’d go back to your club for a few weeks, maybe work on your own game, then regroup as a county.
All that created some buzz and anticipation around the start of the championship. It was like a shift in mindset. The way the season is condensed now, it harder to get that big buzz around the first couple of games, particularly in Leinster. All that can lend itself to the spluttering, stop-start nature of some performances.
With Dublin, this team also know exactly where they want to get to. The championship now is all about hitting form at the right time. For Dublin that doesn’t even start until the knockout stages.
I know Dessie and the lads would have spoken about hitting the ground running, building some consistency of performance, especially after the ups and downs of the league. They were just back from a training camp in Portugal where lots of work would have been done.
So it was a slower start than they’d have liked. Ultimately, the lads know they’re most likely going to make the Leinster final, then into the business end of the championship. In the grand scheme of things, the Leinster championship doesn’t really matter too much to Dublin.
They were also missing seven or eight players. That’s a lot of bodies to come back. We all know the players Dublin have lost this year, Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Mick Fitzsimons, but I still firmly believe Dublin have got the 21, 22 players more than good enough to win an All-Ireland.
The likes of Stephen Cluxton in goal, Eoin Murchan, John Small, Cormac Costello. Cian Murphy also missed out on Sunday. Paddy Small came on and there are still six or seven players there who can make Dublin a lot stronger in the coming weeks.
The big thing for me is that I would like to see more continuity in terms of team selection. The starting 15 and the guys coming off the bench. It’s important now the lines start getting connected and there’s understanding of how to play with each other. Particularly with the new rules. Before, it might have been a bit more seamless to slip back in. Now, you’ve got to be getting plenty of reps in terms of game time, not just in training.
So Dublin do need to start getting a more concrete starting 15. You’d want to see that before the first game of the All-Ireland series.
Con O’Callaghan was the standout player on Sunday and after his superb club form with Cuala that didn’t surprise me. Con is the type of guy who will never rest on his laurels, will always try to find some improvement in his game. I also think he’s excited by the new rules, can float out a bit more. Ideally, he’s going to stay positioned inside and Dublin will try to fast-transition the ball into him. He’s the main leader now, Dublin’s go-to player.
He still needs a good supporting cast around him, and Dublin still have excellent kick-passers in the likes of Niall Scully, or if Costello comes back. I think they have as good a front six as anyone in the country, it’s just a case of finding that continuity.
If anything, all this should sharpen the focus on Meath in Portlaoise next weekend, the last team to beat Dublin in Leinster back in 2010.
In Robbie Brennan, Meath have a manager who knows the Dublin football scene very well, via Kilmacud Crokes. He’s also starting to instil some belief and character into his team. It’s only year one of a potential two- or three-year programme.
Meath also have a lot of big players around the middle, and the pitch in Portlaoise is also a bit tighter. So Dublin might look to go a bit shorter with their kickouts, to retain possession.
I do expect Dublin will be an awful lot better the next day. And I don’t think Meath will be able to rely on as many two-pointers as they did against Offaly last weekend. If they find themselves 10 points down, I can’t see them clawing it back.
It’s often said Dublin are just as happy to play outside Croke Park, and it’s absolutely the right decision to play these games in neutral venues. Unless there’s 40,000-plus in attendance, there’s no need to be using Croke Park.
I know the lads have played a lot of great football in Portlaoise down through the years. I really don’t think it makes a lot of difference. It’s a bit of a novelty, a new hotel on the way, different atmosphere, when you know the exact battle rhythm when it comes to playing in Croke Park.
So I do think the game will be closer, by the very nature of it being in a neutral venue, and not Croke Park. Whether that means it’s a close game or not remains to be seen.
