Football

Joe Brolly: David Clifford and Kerry can stop Dublin - but not this year

Kerry's David Clifford will be the man to end Dublin's dominance
Kerry's David Clifford will be the man to end Dublin's dominance Kerry's David Clifford will be the man to end Dublin's dominance

EIR Sport’s new Gaelic football pundit Joe Brolly says David Clifford and Kerry will be the team to stop Dublin – but they may have to wait another year as the Sky Blues aim for an historic six-in-a-row in 2020.

Describing Clifford as the “complete football machine”, Brolly added: “Dublin will run into Clifford eventually. One of the great joys of being a Gaelic football follower now is watching David Clifford playing football. He’s a complete football machine. Twenty, is he?

“Who rocks up to his first Allstars wearing a polo neck? Is that what you call them in the Free State or is it a turtle neck? I mean, he rocked up wearing a f***ing polo neck.

“And here he is, completely selfless, two great hands, two great feet, every trick in the book… Kerry need structure in the team around him.

“He’s got to be the go-to, as he is with East Kerry and I don’t think there’s anything beyond that kid and he will most certainly win a senior All-Ireland and I suspect sooner rather than later.”

Brolly still has bitter memories of the day when Clifford almost single-handedly beat Derry in the 2017 All-Ireland minor final, scoring 4-4.

“For his first goal, it was like bouncers trying to throw Jean-Claude Van Damme out of a f***ing disco. I expect that Kerry will be next to win the All-Ireland, so long as Clifford stays injury-free.”

On Dessie Farrell succeeding Jim Gavin as Dublin manager, the 1993 All-Ireland winner said: “I would imagine Des Farrell will be smart enough to know that this is going to be a very light-touch regime. They’re very independent, mature players and crucially they’ve got that component that all the greatest teams have - they’ve got an absolute trust in each other.”