Dean Rock on Dublin’s blueprint for more success in 2018
DEAN ROCK thoroughly enjoyed Blue Sisters, RTÉ’s flyon-the-wall documentary on the season of Dublin Ladies footballers. His girlfriend Niamh McEvoy is part of the side, so he was glad the country got to see just how much effort and work it took for them to capture the AllIreland title.
However, Rock smiled when it was suggested that Jim Gavin might open his team’s dressingroom doors to a film crew. ‘I wouldn’t imagine that we will be doing anything similar, no. I think we will keep it all in-house,’ says the forward, who nailed the winning free in this year’s dramatic All-Ireland final against Mayo.
Very little information seeps out from within this remarkable group of Dublin footballers. We only get what they want us to hear.
So, it has emerged that in their quest to win a fourth All-Ireland title in a row, Gavin and his players will follow the same schedule as 2017. A developmental squad will again be used in the O’Byrne Cup while the team are on holiday.
Last January, Niall Scully used his auditions in the O’Byrne Cup to establish himself in the team and Rock can foresee something similar happening in the new year.
‘Absolutely. There were guys who played in the O’Byrne Cup last year and stayed on the panel through the whole National League. It’s certainly a great chance for players to showcase their skills and put themselves out there. Niall Scully made the most of it and Ciaran Reddin too, he played a number of games in the League, started the League final and scored two points.
‘Obviously when we come back from our holiday in January, we will be a little under-cooked compared to some other teams. But we will get back on the pitch in January, go through our sessions and gradually get up to the pace of things. We will have four or five weeks off by the time we get back, and lads will be mad to get going again.’
Rock had one of his best performances of the year in the decider against Mayo — although he points out they are one of those teams he always seems to play well against. However, he feels that Dublin, with Bryan Cullen working on strength and conditioning, timed their run perfectly in 2017 and will expect something similar next year.
‘I think we got it right from a personally development or physical development perspective with Bryan Cullen. We timed our run pretty well. It was no harm going on our holiday a bit later last year, but ultimately the objective was to get to September and to peak and perform in September.
‘I certainly felt from my own individual perspective a lot fresher at the end of the season than I did the previous season. That’s just learning, the games were quite intense in 2016 and we had a replay that year as well, but certainly I think we timed our run a lot better this year — and training was tailored towards that.’
Rock expects Denis Bastick to be the only familiar face missing for the All-Ireland champions next season. ‘Everything has been said that needs to be said about Denis. A great servant to Dublin football and he carries all the values and characteristics associated with it and goes off into the sunset with five All-Ireland medals.
‘But all the other guys are raring to go. This is a very special time for Dublin GAA and we acknowledge that and understand it. It is quite difficult for Denis, even at his age, he still found it hard to eventually walk away.
‘You develop such a strong bond with the lads over the last number of years. We’re a very close-knit group and it will be hard not to have him there.’
Dublin will have to deal with a new rule that dictates all kickouts must go beyond the 20m line from next season, but Rock doesn’t think it will be a problem.
‘It’s just a rule change,’ Rock shrugged. ‘The game is evolving and the GAA is evolving. This is just another change.
‘I don’t think it is going to massively affect the game, or massively affect Stephen [Cluxton] in any way or Evan [Comerford] or whoever is in goals for us. It is part of the evolution of the game and we will just adapt and go with it.’
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