DUBLIN’S PERFORMANCE TICKED a lot of boxes against Tipperary last weekend.
It earned Ger Cunningham two valuable points in his first league game, a prize not to be sniffed at when Division 1 looks set to be as ferociously competitive as ever.
Not only that, but it was a solid endorsement of the positional tinkering the new boss has done since taking the reins from Anthony Daly.
It was also the Dubs’ fifth straight league win in Parnell Park, a record that admittedly sounds far more impressive when you note that it stretches back almost four years to March 2011.
It was all of those things, emphatically at times, but it wasn’t revenge.
A win on the opening weekend of the league can only do so much to soothe the pain of a Championship exit. An eye for an eye, and all that.
So while it’s easy to pitch that win as a redemptive moment, Liam Rushe knows that’s not the case.
“You could say we were out looking for revenge,” he accepts, “[but] they were two completely different competitions.
There is no point avenging yourself in a league game in February. We will save that motivation if we can meet them in the Championship.
The same logic applies on Sunday when Dublin travel to reigning league and All-Ireland champions Kilkenny. After the highs in 2013 when they banished the Cats en route to a first provincial crown in 52 years, last year’s Leinster final was a sobering reminder of the established order.
Dublin weren’t quite stripped of their crown, but rather offered it up in meek surrender, beaten by double scores in the end. Rushe still finds it difficult to pinpoint what went wrong.
Advertisement
“It’s hard to put your finger on it,” he explains. ” Daly thought we were flat but I thought we were right there.
“The hurling never got going but we were right there for 50, 55, 60 minutes. I watched it again and they pulled away and got six or seven unanswered points in the last 10 minutes.
“We were there or thereabouts. A bit of luck on the day it might have been a different day.
Liam Rushe wears Under Armour’s new Speedform Gemini - available at Lifestyle Sports and at www.underarmour.com Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE / SPORTSFILE
“I think we did battle hard,” he adds. “Maybe we lacked a bit of composure on the day and that was the difference. It’s fine margins when you are coming up against Kilkenny. They are so well seasoned at it.
They produce every day and if you are a shade off, which is what happened to us — our touch was off and we hit too many wides — you have to take too many chances.
Far too much has been made of Kilkenny’s retirements and injuries. “I think a few people picked them up at great odds,” Rushe observes wryly.
After watching them race out of the traps against a well-fancied Cork side last weekend, he’s in no doubt about the challenge facing Dublin.
“I’d say there are probably players there in Kilkenny that have been watching the likes of JJ and Henry and were dying for a chance.
“Now they see a certain number of players retired or injured or tied up with Ballyhale, those players will be chomping at the bit to get going.
Was there the same level of competition on the Cork panel? Were those guys as motivated? Winter hurling, a lot of it is about motivation. It does come back to basic hunger. Those Kilkenny lads looked half-starved out there.
After setting up one of Dublin’s goals against Tipp and scoring the other, Rushe is likely to line out again in his new home at full-forward.
With Michael Carton looking assured at full-back, and likewise for Peter Kelly since his switch to centre-back, Cunningham’s experiments have paid dividends so far.
Rushe found the net in the Walsh Cup final defeat to Galway, and again last weekend against Tipp. Cathal Noonan / INPHO
Cathal Noonan / INPHO / INPHO
Rushe isn’t a stranger to full-forward having played there at underage level and again, briefly, under Anthony Daly.
He wore 14 against Kilkenny in Portlaoise in the 2012 Leinster semi and when that ended in an 18-point hammering, he presumed that would be the end of the experiment.
“I would have seen it as a failed experiment from a few years ago,” he accepts, “but I think we have different personnel now in a big way than we had then, and I think there is a lot more balance.
“Maybe it might work this time. There are different lads pushing through and PK could be a grand centre-back and free me up for elsewhere or vice versa.”
Still, he’s made no secret of his love for lining out at centre-back.
“I didn’t take any persuading at all really,” he says. “He’s the manager, he threw me in there in training one day and said we’d try it and have a look. That’s pretty much the same line I got come Walsh Cup and come league.
We’ll try it and if it’s a winning formula, I’m happy enough. I always said I like centre-back, that’s where I like to play, but full-forward is great craic once the ball is coming in.
Three years on from that nightmare in Portlaoise, Rushe feels that he’s a bit more comfortable with the new role.
“Certainly you have a lot more experience of marking top class forwards so basically trying to emulate what I’ve seen from the trickiest people I’ve come up against. Aside from that, I didn’t get to learn too much about full-forward from being at centre-back.
“It’s a bit of a learning curve, I’m a bit raw at times, spinning around in circles — you’d want to see me shooting over my shoulder — but other than that things are coming good.”
'There's no point avenging yourself in a league game in February. We'll save that motivation'
DUBLIN’S PERFORMANCE TICKED a lot of boxes against Tipperary last weekend.
It earned Ger Cunningham two valuable points in his first league game, a prize not to be sniffed at when Division 1 looks set to be as ferociously competitive as ever.
Not only that, but it was a solid endorsement of the positional tinkering the new boss has done since taking the reins from Anthony Daly.
It was also the Dubs’ fifth straight league win in Parnell Park, a record that admittedly sounds far more impressive when you note that it stretches back almost four years to March 2011.
It was all of those things, emphatically at times, but it wasn’t revenge.
A win on the opening weekend of the league can only do so much to soothe the pain of a Championship exit. An eye for an eye, and all that.
So while it’s easy to pitch that win as a redemptive moment, Liam Rushe knows that’s not the case.
“You could say we were out looking for revenge,” he accepts, “[but] they were two completely different competitions.
The same logic applies on Sunday when Dublin travel to reigning league and All-Ireland champions Kilkenny. After the highs in 2013 when they banished the Cats en route to a first provincial crown in 52 years, last year’s Leinster final was a sobering reminder of the established order.
Dublin weren’t quite stripped of their crown, but rather offered it up in meek surrender, beaten by double scores in the end. Rushe still finds it difficult to pinpoint what went wrong.
“It’s hard to put your finger on it,” he explains. ” Daly thought we were flat but I thought we were right there.
“The hurling never got going but we were right there for 50, 55, 60 minutes. I watched it again and they pulled away and got six or seven unanswered points in the last 10 minutes.
“We were there or thereabouts. A bit of luck on the day it might have been a different day.
“I think we did battle hard,” he adds. “Maybe we lacked a bit of composure on the day and that was the difference. It’s fine margins when you are coming up against Kilkenny. They are so well seasoned at it.
Far too much has been made of Kilkenny’s retirements and injuries. “I think a few people picked them up at great odds,” Rushe observes wryly.
After watching them race out of the traps against a well-fancied Cork side last weekend, he’s in no doubt about the challenge facing Dublin.
“I’d say there are probably players there in Kilkenny that have been watching the likes of JJ and Henry and were dying for a chance.
“Now they see a certain number of players retired or injured or tied up with Ballyhale, those players will be chomping at the bit to get going.
After setting up one of Dublin’s goals against Tipp and scoring the other, Rushe is likely to line out again in his new home at full-forward.
With Michael Carton looking assured at full-back, and likewise for Peter Kelly since his switch to centre-back, Cunningham’s experiments have paid dividends so far.
Rushe isn’t a stranger to full-forward having played there at underage level and again, briefly, under Anthony Daly.
He wore 14 against Kilkenny in Portlaoise in the 2012 Leinster semi and when that ended in an 18-point hammering, he presumed that would be the end of the experiment.
“I would have seen it as a failed experiment from a few years ago,” he accepts, “but I think we have different personnel now in a big way than we had then, and I think there is a lot more balance.
“Maybe it might work this time. There are different lads pushing through and PK could be a grand centre-back and free me up for elsewhere or vice versa.”
Still, he’s made no secret of his love for lining out at centre-back.
“I didn’t take any persuading at all really,” he says. “He’s the manager, he threw me in there in training one day and said we’d try it and have a look. That’s pretty much the same line I got come Walsh Cup and come league.
Three years on from that nightmare in Portlaoise, Rushe feels that he’s a bit more comfortable with the new role.
“Certainly you have a lot more experience of marking top class forwards so basically trying to emulate what I’ve seen from the trickiest people I’ve come up against. Aside from that, I didn’t get to learn too much about full-forward from being at centre-back.
“It’s a bit of a learning curve, I’m a bit raw at times, spinning around in circles — you’d want to see me shooting over my shoulder — but other than that things are coming good.”
Originally published 20 February 0745
‘In one ear and out the other’ – Henry has had enough of THAT question
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
All-Ireland Senior HC Forward Thinking GAA 2015 Ger Cunningham Liam Rushe Dublin Kilkenny