IT’S been a decade since the Drive For Five was part of the GAA’s symphony. Then it was Kilkenny hurlers trying to do what no-one had before. And failing, just as Kerry had in 1982.
There’s a bit of a preconception that the reason why Dublin are different is because of the lowering of their age profile while they’ve been winning All-Irelands.
Kerry had no fewer than ten players who lost the ’82 final that were still winning All-Irelands in ’86, and nine of them had been about since ’78.
Kilkenny hurlers lost to Tipperary in 2010 but only James ‘Cha’ Fitzpatrick, who quit through injury at 26, and Eddie Brennan had retired by the end of 2012. A fair few of them would go on to win another four of the next five between 2011 and 2015.
The only area of this Dublin team that could be accused of falling under the remit of Age Concern is the area in front of their own goal.
Their full-back line has long been held up as their weakness, but it hasn’t let them down yet.
Since their defeat to Donegal five years ago, largely held up as the pivot for their absolute domination of the sport, they’ve won six Allstars in the full-back line.
The reality is that the way Dublin play, applying pressure higher up the pitch than most teams, there aren’t many defenders in the game that wouldn’t feel or look exposed.
Dublin’s full-back line has leaked scores here and there, and at times looked susceptible beneath the high ball, but they’ve done enough in every game since 2014. To call it a real weakness is to bend the truth a bit.
It’s just that it’s all the rest of the country really has to go on.
Hope sprang eternal for the others during the National League, where they lost to Monaghan, Kerry and Tyrone.
Yet Jim Gavin used more players than any other manager. And by ‘used’, you’re not talking the token 30 seconds in injury time that boosts such a figure.
No Dublin player played every minute of the league, with only Niall Scully coming near it.
Stephen Cluxton played two games, Eoin Murchan the same. Cian O’Sullivan played the last four. James McCarthy played four, Brian Fenton five. Philly McMahon a total of 15 minutes. You get the picture.
Jim Gavin’s most under-rated characteristic is his ruthlessness. Behind the soft air lies a man picks his team with no sense of the past tying him down.
Bernard Brogan has played five minutes of football this year. Five.
Dean Rock didn’t kick a ball in Leinster until the final, finding himself frozen out by Cormac Costello’s growing reliability from dead-balls allied by that extra bit he offers in open play.
So you now have a man who has been heralded as one of the key reasons for Dublin’s success of recent years sitting looking in from the bench in the prime of his career.
Paul Flynn clearly saw the lack of opportunity coming his way and stepped off the train. Eric Lowndes seemed to have made headway last year but hasn’t been seen since being taken off at half-time against Kerry. Michael Darragh Macauley’s chances have been limited too.
And yet, for all the numbers they’ve trialled, they no longer have the truly fearsome bench they once did.
Analysing their Leinster Championship success is a waste of time. Meath might have rendered it otherwise had they taken even half their chances in the decider, but they didn’t. Dublin won by 16, and while they will have reviewed how they managed only to score 0-5 in the first half themselves, it’s hardly a cause for panic.
The Super 8s are much of the same. Heading up to Omagh, where the pitch may or may not be its usual size, is the one beacon of interest.
Truth is, we won’t really know quite how well the Dubs are motoring until they’re in the All-Ireland semi-final. It’s only from there that they will really need to find the higher gears.
Cormac Costello has finally nailed down his place in the team. Crucially, he’s provided a bit of a goal threat. He’s scored three of their 15 goals so far this year, five of which came against Louth.
Ciaran Kilkenny is feeling his way back to fitness. Brian Howard and Niall Scully can be exceptional but, barring the odd goal from Scully, neither carries a huge scoring threat.
Costello, O’Callaghan and Paul Mannion are a deadly inside trio. Give the three of them the ball and they’ll score. But what they lack is the ball-winning presence that has previously always existed.
James McCarthy’s injury – the severity of which is yet unclear – will open the door properly for Michael Darragh Macauley at midfield. The way they use their height at midfield to squeeze the opposition’s kickouts and then flock to the breaking ball like hungry gulls remains one of the most crucial facets of their play.
Stephen Cluxton is still excellent but not what he once was off the tee. Dublin lost 48 per cent of the kickouts he took last summer when the opposition were able to contest. If teams can get up on him, he looks more fallible than ever.
Without a handful of marquee forwards, Dublin look marginally more human on the whole. But they’re still the strongest, fittest, fastest, most accurate humans around.
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JIM GAVIN’S BEST TEAM
Stephen Cluxton; Jonny Cooper, Philip McMahon, Michael Fitzsimons; Jack McCaffrey, Cian O’Sullivan, John Small; Brian Fenton, James McCarthy; Niall Scully, Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Howard; Con O’Callaghan, Paul Mannion, Cormac Costello
2019 OVERALL TOP SCORERS
Cormac Costello 3-37 (0-27f)
Dean Rock 2-36 (0-24f)
Paul Mannion 2-25 (0-7f)
Con O’Callaghan 4-11 (0-1f)
Brian Fenton 1-8
2019 CHAMPIONSHIP TOP SCORERS
Cormac Costello 1-24 (0-14f, 0-4 45s)
Paul Mannion 0-12
Con O’Callaghan 2-3
EVERY MINUTE MEN
Players to have played every minute of league and championship
N/A
Highest: Niall Scully (647)
SUPER 8s FIXTURES
Group Two
Croke Park, July 13: Dublin v Cork
Croke Park, July 20: Dublin v Roscommon
Healy Park/Breffni Park, August 3/4: Tyrone/Cavan v Dublin
