Croke Park factor: Is it a big plus for Dublin?
Playing at GAA HQ is worth three or four points to Dublin, says Liam Kearns; it’s only an advantage if the opposition believe it is and allow it to get to them, says John O’Leary; you can’t let it be an issue because if you do, Dublin will exploit it, say
AROUND 3.40 tomorrow, the Dublin squad will emerge from a dressing-room they use for every game in Croke Park, gallop straight across the pitch to be photographed, before heading to the Hill 16 end for the warm-up.
Galway will be at the Canal End, just as all Dublin’s opposition are. Whether it’s Allianz League, Leinster or All-Ireland championship, Dublin are allocated the same dressing-room and the same end of the ground for their pre-match routines.
The GAA authorities explain Dublin’s proprietorial hold on the same arrangements for every game on the basis of alphabetical order, as Gaeilge of course.
Counties high up down the alphabet use the Hill 16 goal and the dressing-room in that half of the pitch, with the opposition at the other end. That’s the theory at least.
However, if the alphabet rule were strictly applied, Dublin (Áth Cliath) would be sent to the Canal End for games with Armagh (Ard Mhacha), but it didn’t happen in the days when the counties met quite regularly.
It may look like a small point, but the fact that Dublin occupy the same dressing-room and Hill 16 end sends out a signal to the opposition that they are visitors, rather than equals, in the GAA’s flagship stadium.
The Croke Park factor and its value to Dublin has long been a source of curiosity. How much, if anything, is it worth to them?
Although difficult to quantify, sport worldwide has always shown that playing at home benefits a team. Familiarity with the pitch, dressing-rooms and general surrounds, as well as the impact a large, partisan crowd can have on a referee, are recognised as being helpful to home teams. Refereeing authorities in all sports insist that they are never influenced by crowds but research has shown otherwise.
It comes in the form of a subliminal influencing, where a loud roar creates an impression that something has happened which the referee should deal with in a certain way. And since the home team always has the most support, it follows that the wall of sound puts pressure on referees.
It’s not bias, but rather a human response to a situation where the largest group of people watching a game react in a certain way.
When all the factors associated with playing at home are put together, they strongly support the view that playing in Croke Park benefits Dublin. So how much is it worth to them? “Nothing unless the opposition allows it. That’s the issue really. If a team thinks Croke Park is an advantage to Dublin, then it is. Otherwise, it’s not. The way you see the world creates the world you see,” says former Dublin goalkeeper John O’Leary.
He was on the Dublin team for 17 years, playing in 70 successive championship games, 47 of which were in Croke Park. It leaves him well-placed to assess the impact the stadium has on Dublin and the opposition.
“I never felt it was an advantage to us. Maybe others did and I suppose if opposition thought that way, it was a help to us. How they viewed it was down to them. It’s still a pitch with goalposts at either end.
ADJUST
“They don’t move so if there’s no reason why a player can’t score as easily there as at any other ground. A team playing in Croke Park for the first time might take a bit of time to adjust, but you generally find that most of the teams Dublin play there are well used to it,” said O’Leary.
Liam Kearns took Tipperary to Croke Park for their first All-Ireland quarter-final in 2016 and was delighted to find that they responded superbly.
They ran Galway off the pitch, winning by nine points before running Mayo to five in the semi-final. Indeed, if Robbie Kiely had not been sent off on a black card early on, Tipperary would almost certainly have done even better.
“Croke Park suits a team like Tipperary. It rewards good attacking play. Our lads loved it. It can either inspire players or intimidate them. If you start thinking that you have to do something different because you are playing in Croke Park, it will drag you down, but if you embrace that fact that you’re playing in this great stadium with a perfect surface, then you will thrive.
“My regret is that we’re not playing there (Division 2 final) there this weekend,” says Kearns.
Instead, they will be in Newry, playing Down in one of the two remaining games in the group. It’s irrelevant to Tipperary, but Down have to win if they are to have any chance of avoiding relegation.
“We’re a bit unlucky not to be in the final. We dropped points that we shouldn’t. We would love to be heading for Croke Park, having won promotion,” adds Kearns.
He believes that playing in Croke Park is an advantage to Dublin, having had first-hand experience of managing against them during his term with Laois.
“I would say it’s worth three or four points to Dublin. There are a lot of factors involved and when you put them all together, they add up. If the recent All-Ireland finals where Mayo ran Dublin so close were played in, for instance, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, would it have given Mayo the edge?
“Put it another way, would it have taken something away from Dublin? Quite probably,” says Kearns.
While Dublin are comfortable in Croke Park, Galway’s record there since winning the 2001 All-Ireland final is dismal.
Their win over Kildare in last year’s Division 2 final remains their sole success from 13 games at HQ, which is another factor in making Dublin overwhelming favourites tomorrow.
Galway’s defensive approach, backed up by quick break-outs, helped them to take 13 of a possible 14 points in the Division 1 campaign, but it now remains to be seen how their gameplan works in Croke Park.
“Croke Park rewards attacking play. The size of the pitch and the quick surface are great for teams going forward but not so if you’re in a defensive shape. There’s a lot of ground to mind,” Kearns says.
John O’Mahony, who experienced Croke Park as a manager with Mayo (two stints), Leitrim and Galway, agrees with Kearns that a defensive set-up is difficult to implement there.
“We’ll have to wait and see how Galway line up. In fairness, they have mixed it up well so far in the league and got excellent results so I’m sure they will bring a lot of variation to their game. You need it against Dublin, who are used to playing against all types of systems at this stage,” he says.
He cannot understand why Galway’s record in Croke Park has taken such a dramatic turn for the worse after a four-season period which yielded two All-Ireland titles either side of the millennium.
“There’s no obvious reason for it and there’s no point dwelling on it either. The way to put it behind them is to win the next game. It certainly won’t be easy but Galway have a chance if they raise their game again,” says O’Mahony.
DISADVANTAGE
He believes that playing Dublin in Croke Park is only a disadvantage if a team allows it to become one.
“Dublin regard it as home and go about their business with a swagger, but the opposition shouldn’t even consider that. Every player wants to be in Croke Park so you’ve got to make it work for you. It’s a fine pitch so it’s as good venue for the opposition as it is for Dublin if they channel their energies they right way,” O’Mahony says.
A large Dublin crowd on Hill 16 is usually regarded as a plus for the team but O’Mahony has seen occasions when it had the opposite effect.
“The noise from Hill 16 is obviously at its loudest when Dublin are going well but it can be very quiet when they’re not. The Dublin players notice that and, more importantly, so do the opposition. So the aim for any team playing Dublin is to perform well enough to silence the Hill. Easier said than done, I know, but it does happen.”
O’Leary believes that the perception of Croke Park providing an advantage for Dublin overshadows the reality, but is used to make a point when opposition are beaten.
“It’s easy to say when a team loses by a few points to Dublin that Croke Park was the difference. I don’t believe it’s the case. Players are so well mentally prepared nowadays that a venue isn’t going to be an issue. At least it shouldn’t be. And if it is, then it’s the team’s own fault,” he says.
Dublin’s defeat by Monaghan last Sunday was their first in Croke Park since last year’s league final and, prior to that, they hadn’t lost at home since the 2014 All-Ireland semi-final against Donegal.
It puts the scale of the challenge facing Galway into context, especially when placed against the background of their low-yield visits to Croke Park over the last 16 years.