DARRAGH O SÉ once stated there are two key factors to retaining an All-Ireland title.
The first was self-explanatory – you must have the right players in the 25-32 age bracket. The second, he said, is you need a jolt somewhere along the way to keep things fresh and get the hunger flowing again.
O Sé used the example of Kerry’s double a decade ago when Jack O’Connor departed after leading them to the 2006 All-Ireland. Pat O’Shea arrived the following year, and it inspired them to reach new heights and retain their crown.
If the departures of All-Stars Rory O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey provided Dublin with a big enough point to prove in 2016, then you wonder if Diarmuid Connolly’s 12-week ban will apply the jump-lead on their title challenge in 2017.
In the short-term, Connolly’s absence opens up a slot in Jim Gavin’s attack. Conor McHugh, Paul Flynn, Michael Darragh Macauley, Mark Schutte, Paddy Andrews, Eoghan O’Gara, Cormac Costello and Bernard Brogan are all jostling for position to benefit, this weekend at least, from Connolly’s absence.
It’s well known that Gavin doesn’t like to chop and change his deck too much in the championship. Play well in the early rounds and you’ll keep your place. The key thing for those outside the starting 15 is making enough of an impression in their second-half cameos to force Gavin’s hand for the next day out.
Generally the game opens up in the latter stages as Dublin’s fitness and dominance begins to tell all over the field. The 33-year-old Brogan caught the eye off the bench in the quarter-final win over Carlow, where he bagged two points after his 46th minute introduction for Kevin McManamon.
Alan Brogan believes his younger brother possesses the right mindset to have the required impact off the bench and eventually regain his place on the team.
“I think when you get to that stage of your career you’re experienced enough to know that you have to put the team before yourself,” the elder Brogan said.
“If that’s the job the manager wants you to do then you have to do it for the team. Of course you’d be annoyed when the team is named and you’re not in it, but you’ve got to put that setback behind you quickly and get yourself in the right frame of mind to make an impact off the bench.
“He’s definitely leaner than he was four or five years ago. He’s training very hard. He knows he’s coming towards the end as well over the course of the next year or two.
“He’s trying to get everything he can out of himself. In fairness I’ve been really impressed with him, really impressed with the shape he’s in. Even with the club this year he was in really good nick.
“Probably as good nick as I’ve ever seen him. He was decent when he came in against Carlow so that’s all you can do. It might end up being the same as my own situation where in my last year I came off the bench in every game.
“Of course, I wanted to be playing from the start, but it’s just the way it worked out. If that’s what happens to him, I think he’d be strong enough to make an impact off the bench. Hopefully we’ll see him back in the starting team at some stage over the course of the summer.”
Dublin operated with a full-forward line of Paul Mannion, Dean Rock and McManamon against Carlow, with a half-forward axis of Niall Scully-Con O’Callaghan-Connolly and Ciaran Kilkenny at midfield.
Either Mannion or McManamon could move to the half-forward line to accommodate Brogan, although Gavin is more likely to road-test O’Callaghan at corner-forward against Westmeath for his senior debut at Croke Park.
Somewhere Phil Kearns is having an absolute meltdown about the unfairness of it all…
Great to see Jaguares win, hope they can follow up next week.
Argentina are 50-1 for the world cup! Insane odds given how well the Jaguares are going. Plus they always underperform in the Rugby Championship cos of the distances they have to travel. Given Ireland are 5-1, this seems pretty long for the Argies.
@Farzad Saadat: Pool C will see a big faller at the 1st. France, England and Argentina will be interesting. You’d think France could be the one to miss out but they’ve been ruthless with their squad selection, brought in O’Gara and you only have to look at 2011 when they had no chance and made the final. England could find themselves in a similar fate to 2015, after a great start under Jones they had an awful run of loses. Argentina always peak at world cup time. Exciting!
@RabidHorizon: Did they bring in O’Gara in the end? I thought that was all just rumours in the end
@Eddie Hekenui: No they didn’t in the end
@Ciaran Twomey: Cheers. Thought I might’ve missed the news he’d taken a role with them.
@Farzad Saadat: Madness considering they have knocked us out of 3 of the last 5 RWCs.
@RabidHorizon: they didn’t bring in O’Gara
@RabidHorizon: France brought in much better coaches than O’Gara, they should get a real boost – Labit and Galthié – they picked the right squad, too. I think England could be the team to miss out..
Brumbies should never have made it to a semi. Awful team but get lucky because of how weak their conference is.
@#JUSTICE4NOEL:
Aussie Rugby is in a bad place right now.
Unreal for the sport!! Makes the competition a whole lot more competitive! Will be interesting to see how far Argentina go at the WC.
@Aaron Tynan: Further than us, I fear.
@Bluepoolroad: draw kinder to them I think than Ireland – SA or NZ is a tough 1/4
The second semi just finished. Cracking game. 30-26 crusaders.
That jaguares kit is lovely
@Eoin Murphy: i wonder where one could buy it?
@Tony Stack: https://www.elverys.ie/elverys/en/search?text=jaguares
Great. When Argentina played in the November series against Ireland. Which i went too. It was the Jaguares team.
Jags play flat and pass wonderfully, it’s great to watch. The crowd was brilliant too.
I think the Crusaders will have too much for them at home, but I’d love to see the Jags win it.
Where’s the final taking place?
@Bluepoolroad: crusaders ground
@Bluepoolroad: Crusaders home stadium in Christchurch, super rugby needs to start playing them in neutral venues, even if it’s in the higher ranked clubs home country. Home stadium advantage is a bit much for a final.
@Con Al: The problem is distances. Say Cape Town was this year’s venue, how many Jaguares and Crusaders supporters are going to make it at a weeks notice? Stadium would be near empty. At least in the current system, one set of supporters see the final and home advantage is based on merit earned during the season. Not perfect, but understandable system