Football

Defeating the Dubs requires a very particular set of skills

Dublin's players celebrate their All-Ireland final win over Kerry at Croke Park<br />Picture: Philip Walsh
Dublin's players celebrate their All-Ireland final win over Kerry at Croke Park
Picture: Philip Walsh
Dublin's players celebrate their All-Ireland final win over Kerry at Croke Park
Picture: Philip Walsh

CELEBRATIONS, post-mortems, preparations and strength and conditioning programmes are all underway in Dublin, Kerry, and every remaining county with aspirations of winning cups far beyond their natural capabilities.

Only one team can win, but the fact that four provincial Championships can be claimed without winning ‘Sam’ may bring a bit of solace, however, limited it is.


Dublin’s clean sweep of silverware only further cements their status as champions for the foreseeable future. It is hard to see any county closing the gap any time soon.

The resources and sheer size of the population in Dublin limit the opportunities for most of the other counties in Ireland.

As the urbanisation of Dublin continues, ailing Dublin clubs (if there is such a thing) will inevitably become stronger with students taking up jobs in the city and later residing around Dublin, rearing families and further exacerbating the dilution of the football gene-pool in the recession-hit rural areas.

To cut to the chase, it is hard to see Dublin not winning ‘Sam’ at least every other year for now.

Suddenly in the last few years rugby and GAA are fashionable sports in the capital. They rub shoulders at corporate dinners and commercial advertising events, unlike previous times historically when rugby and soccer were the preferred choice for such occasions.

Dublin in particular have raised the profile of the GAA and, as a consequence, everyone has benefited, none moreso than the GAA-funded coaches employed up and down the country by the various county boards. Facilities also have been improved.

The truth is that Dublin is the heart of the GAA and, without it, none of the other organs would work effectively. I would always contend that if your club senior team are performing well, so too is your club. Quite simplistic I know, however, I see no reason why this is any different at inter-county level.

Three All-Irelands in five years enjoyed by this group of Dublin players is domination in any man’s language and it is no coincidence that the coffers at Headquarters have never been as full. The only chance therefore of potentially breaking this cycle of domination in the future, given their resources, is by splitting the county into North and South Dublin. 

Until income starts to wane, though, I cannot see this happening in the short-term.

What is refreshing, though, which I admire about this Dublin team, is the level of football skill which each player combines in tandem with their obvious athleticism.


Last week, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the Irish News-sponsored Threefivetwo Event at Riddel Hall, Belfast hosted by renowned strength and conditioning trainers Mike McGurn and Michael Clegg.

I have known Mike McGurn for some years now, a highly respected coach. One of the early meetings was a training weekend he ran for Down in the ‘noughties’ organised at a time between National League and Championship. One word to describe it: ‘Horrific’.

Mike set up this circuit to begin with, which lasted around 16 minutes. By the end of it there were bodies everywhere. With some lads being sick, others simply couldn’t walk out of the hall, their bodies feeling more like plasticine than muscle and bone.

As for the field sessions, Mike was like a possessed military commander, moving from drill to drill seamlessly, while we looked more akin to a gather-up from ‘Dad’s Army’ than a Down team.

Slowly though, we became used to the professionalism and intensity of high level sport and, in those two or three days, we got an insight into what is expected at the upper level of sports performance. 

While we presumed that we were unique in accessing this expertise, we were simply playing catch-up as a team, physiologically.

Last week’s seminar could have been dubbed ‘Common-Sense Strength and Conditioning’. Mike was always hugely pragmatic and the skills of the particular sport were always at the forefront of his training sessions.

The preoccupation with strength and conditioning which has embedded itself within any club and county squad is creating a culture where players look good in uniform, but frankly can’t kick a point from 30 yards out.

While the fact that ‘Strength and Conditioning Programmes’ might look good from a preparation point of view, what about the 


‘Key Skills Programmes’? 

Even more crucial is developing the culture of skill and ability application, in a game situation. To beat Dublin, you are going to have to be better than Dublin. That means being better at catching, kicking, defending, and scoring.

The same applies to the club teams who are dominating any county championship. 

Look at Crossmaglen and Kilcoo, for examples. They are club champions in their respective counties because they are the best at what they do.

Thus it was refreshing to know that coaches such as Mike McGurn talked about skills of the game, talked of enjoyment from training, and talked about winning as a consequence of strength and conditioning rather than the ultimate reason for a player’s or team’s success.

I have finished up with my club this year and decided to call time on the game. In a sense, the spirit is willing, but being able to do what I used to take for granted has become harder.

I hated losing training games, never mind matches, and that competitiveness and commitment will never really leave me. However, I can’t win every sprint, or every run, or even train every night like previously.

Coming to terms with this fact is the most difficult experience any player will deal with. I didn’t think it would be that way, but as my uncle used to say to his wife; 


‘She casts a bigger shadow than she used to, time waits for no-one’.

In a way I would both love and hate to be starting off playing now. I would love to be playing because no-one seems to mark anyone any more in the half-back, midfield, or half-forward line. 

I would hate to be playing because no one player can dominate a game now, such are the negative defensive tactics and sweepers employed in the modern game.

I would love the social aspect of still playing at the top level. But it seems that enjoyment has gone out of it now, with the commitment over the top, so it’s all about recovery and hydration, which means no nights out.

I am glad I played in the time I did, I suppose. I even enjoyed Mike’s training sessions. If you can kick a goal or a point after one of these, Croke Park will be easy. 

It’s just getting there is the hard part.