DUBLIN ACE MICHAEL DARRAGH MACAULEY DEMANDS CHANCE TO WIN SIXTH ALL-IRELAND MEDAL...
WITH uncertainty the default setting when it comes to the immediate future of sporting events, Dublin’s barn-storming midfielder Michael Darragh Macauley is an enthusiastic backer of Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s defiant statement that the All-ireland Championships would commence in October.
Speaking to RTE Radio, Mr Martin said: “We want the Championship to go ahead. I want an All-ireland this year because I think it would be a symbol that the country is fighting this virus, that it’s not going to surrender to it and I’d love to see the Championship completed.”
If that means playing the games to empty stadiums then Macauley, who will be chasing his sixth consecutive All-ireland medal this year, will be fine with that.
“I think it’s a no-brainer, that we will just play,” says the 2013 Footballer of the Year.
“Obviously, I want to be out there in front of 80,000 people. Barring that, I want to be there in front of 40,000 people. Barring that, 20,000.
“Give me 200 people, it will be a novelty. But if that has to be zero, just Dessie Farrell and his dog, that’s what it is.”
He adds: “From a player’s point of view, I haven’t come across anyone who wants it any other way. Lads are happy to play, everyone I know, club and county have put in a good shift over the last while. Everyone was doing their 5ks and HIIT sessions.
“Everyone was in the same boat in the country, not just intercounty athletes, and it is nice to have a little endgame in sight. Everyone I have talked to just wants to play ball, be it in front of just one man and his dog, or 80,000 people.”
While insisting that Dublin are not breaching the contentious rules forbidding county teams from training, Macauley has been getting used to the idea of Dessie Farrell as the new manager, succeeding Jim Gavin, who spent seven years in the role.
“I never played under Dessie, I would have known him through his GPA capacity, that was probably about it. It’s as much as I would have known any of the past players,” he states.
“I think it’s nice to kind of get a fresh start. I suppose with everything going to plan, I think lads have a nice opportunity to put themselves in the shop window because it’s going straight from club ball into the championship end of the season with Dublin.
“So I think more so than ever from an inter-county point of view, the club takes high precedence. If you want to be starting with Dublin, you better be running amok with your club.”
In lockdown, Farrell has not been resting and he recently appointed Macauley’s club mate Brian O’regan to a coaching post within his set-up, while the long serving Paul Clarke left.
“Brian’s great,” Macauley enthuses.
“I actually would have played with Brian many moons ago and I would have been under management with him for a long time.
“Brian is a man who I think has earned this opportunity, to be honest. He’s really rose up through the ranks, I think he’s coached every team in Ballyboden and, across females and males and hurlers, I think he’s won everything at this stage.
“He’s really plied his trade there and really come on as a coach. He’s hugely organised and he’ll just bring a fresh voice around the Dublin team and I think he’ll be a great fit.”
At the same time, he regrets Clarke’s departure.
“It’s a shame Paul’s not around,” he admits.
“Paul’s someone who I have an unbelievable amount of time for. I told him that before.
“I always rate people as they are as humans more so than they are as coaches. Paul happened to be excellent at both. He was someone who I really connected with.
“He put a lot of time into me, in midfield in particular. He’s a great fella. Paul bleeds blue as well. Everything he does, everything he has done. He’s done so much for that jersey.
“It’s a shame not to have Paul around but I’m sure we’ll see him involved again at some stage, no doubt, knowing Paul.”
And with many wondering how the 33-year-old with seven All-ireland titles already continues to motivate himself, he cites a recent conversation with former Dublin player David Hickey.
“He’s an unbelievable character,” he explains.
“But he was kind of asking — not asking, but he was suggesting — how would a team like ours motivate themselves and his suggestion was that everything has to be fun.
“Everyone has to be enjoying it and I think that’s going to be huge for the lads.
“I’ve no doubt the lads will train their ass off, that happens without anyone having to ask them to do that.”