Lillis reveals that facing Dubs is just like ‘Whack-a-mole’
WHAT is it really like, as a player, to be facing Dublin in their relentless, merciless, machine-like pomp? Laois captain Kieran Lillis comes up with perhaps the perfect metaphor for these lopsided times.
“It’s like ‘ Whack-a-mole’,” he said, alluding to the old arcade game where toy moles keep popping up everywhere, no matter how many you hammer into supposed submission.
“If you try and stop one, the other lads will pick up the slack and you still have to try and cover them. They’re so well organised, they’re on the same wavelength all the time. You can’t afford to go out and just man-mark one individual because the other lads will step up.”
Lillis was part of the Laois midfield effort battling against impossible odds and the incessant Sky Blue tide in their recent Leinster SFC semi-final. On the day, as he so often is, Brian Fenton was imperious; but it’s telling that Dublin could stutter for much of the first half and still run out 22-point winners.
Early in the second quarter, Lillis was one of three Laois players to miss a chance to equalise. But once Sean Bugler’s shot was deflected to the net, the whole occasion became shrouded in inevitability.
After an hour, Dublin led by 14. And even then all Lillis could hear in a deserted Croke Park was their constant on-field communication.
“They’re never happy,” he expanded. “We were in the 66th minute and they were just driving each other on. ‘ Three more attacks’ and all this craic, while we were trying our best to get a little bit of joy with some kickouts. They were 15-plus points up at the time and they were still driving each other on as if there was a chance to lose the game.”
Which brings us to the kernel of this Dublin conundrum. There never is a chance of them losing in Leinster. Ten years monopolised, 30 games won, by ever-increasing margins.
Their latest clean sweep of Westmeath, Laois and Meath, by a cumulative 54 points, has merely turned up the flame underneath a long-simmering debate: what to do about the problem child of Leinster football?
Yet, over the coming few weeks, there is the distinct possibility that this debate will shift from Leinster to an All-ireland context. What if Dublin don’t just complete the Sam Maguire six in a row, but do so by double-digit margins all the way?
Can Cavan, such thrilling underdog kings of Ulster, get closer than Westmeath’s 11-point defeat when they face the champions in Croke Park tomorrow evening? If not, what about the winners of Mayo and Tipperary? Mayo are the favourites to advance; but all it took in last year’s semi-final was 12 minutes of turbo-charged destruction straight after half-time for Dublin to ensure a 10-point triumph over rivals more accustomed to losing by one.
Lillis spelled out his admiration for this special generation of Dubs.
He said: “There is an awful lot of club players in Dublin that are well able to be part of most panels in the country.
“I don’t know exactly what way you’d go about it, but I think there is potential to tap into players there that might have some sort of link to another county.”
Dublin’s latest iteration under Dessie Farrell hasn’t shown even a hint of regression from the Jim Gavin era.
Lillis said: “They’ve got younger lads, their personnel is different but I think it’s the same Dublin — they’re just as hungry as ever.”
Westmeath c a pt a i n Kieran Martin, like Lillis, has been around the block; losing heavily to Dublin this year was far from a unique experience.
“People will say that it doesn’t really matter, you go give your best every time — and you do,” Martin stressed. “But there’s always going to be that small little bit in the back of your mind, hoping you don’t get Dublin.
“The way people look at it now, if you get Dublin in the far side of the draw, your focus is for a Leinster final. But if you get them on your side of the draw, you’re looking at back door nearly.”