Dublin cash no help when it comes to losing key players
AOGÁN Ó FEARGHAIL told a story this week. The president of the GAA told RTÉ Radio that at a match he attended this year, the backroom team of one of the competing sides arrived in their own bus, so great was their number.
‘That to me is nonsense,’ said Ó Fearghail. ‘I think that it’s way off the scale. I think that the amount of physios and assistant physios and nutritionists and advisers to nutritionists, in some now, not in general, but if something starts it can creep (sic).’
If left there, his comments were harmless, the type of populist lament, best delivered with a sigh and a weary roll of the eyes, that plays well in the more traditional constituencies.
But Ó Fearghail’s cry against excess continued.
‘Now our top counties that are achieving highly and probably will win Liam MacCarthy and Sam Maguire are not at that level, but some counties feel, “This is what we have to do”.’ That must rank as one of the more ridiculous statements made by a GAA president – and such a collection would not be contained within a slim volume.
The reigning football champions are Dublin, and they are fancied to keep that title in 2016. Earlier this week, they announced an agreement with their 14th commercial partner. At the start of the year, they appointed All-Ireland-winning captain from 2011, Bryan Cullen, as a full-time high performance manager.
They are expected to make extensive use of the GAA’s national games development centre, a €12 million facility opened in April. It was revealed at the time that Dublin paid for the gym equipment at the centre, the purchase of which was supervised by Cullen.
Jim Gavin can call on the knowledge of a broad support team in preparing for the rest of the season. In his time as Dublin manager, it has included a sports performance and lifestyle coach (Bernard Dunne) and Jason Sherlock as a skills coach, as well as the medical expertise all counties rely upon.
To suggest that Dublin are in some way less dependent on off-pitch assistance is absurd. This, do not forget, is a county whose backroom under Paul Caffrey extended to 15 – and that was a decade ago.
Dublin are not exceptional in this regard, but nor are they hold-outs against modern ways. It is silly to argue otherwise.
No county has their commercial heft, and none should find it easier to pay for the medical or nutritional advice that is employed by team managers.
The sport is not screeching towards hell in a hand-cart because teams pay an expert to share their informed opinions. What the traditionalists forget is that money has only a limited use in the GAA. Players cannot (generally) be bought, and even if Dublin have a wider pick than most, events of recent days have shown that the choice available to Gavin is not inexhaustible.
One of the most significant developments in the hunt for Sam Maguire appears to have leaked into public discourse, despite Dublin’s efforts to keep it quiet. Gavin insisted after the Leinster final that James McCarthy would be back for ‘the next day’, but now it is reported that he sustained damage to knee ligaments and is unlikely to be fit before the All-Ireland final, presuming Dublin return to that point this term.
Given the difficulties Dublin experienced on occasion against Westmeath, the news carries potentially serious consequences. McCarthy has developed into a marvellous player over the past year. He rivalled Jack McCaffrey as an ignition for Dublin attacks in 2015, and now they must contend without both of them at the very time when their season takes on its most challenging aspect.
THROUGHOUT the League it appeared as if Gavin’s side had absorbed the departures of Rory O’Carroll and McCaffrey with remarkable ease. The Championship has brought forth evidence that disputes this. Neither Laois nor Westmeath are Division 1 teams but both unsettled the Dublin defence, especially under high balls.
And last Sunday Eric Lowndes and John Small were unable to provide the pace and ability to go past opposition defenders that McCarthy and McCaffrey did last season.
If the rumours about McCarthy’s knee injury prove accurate – and there has been no denial from Dublin – then the All-Ireland series has been given an unexpected plot turn. Rory Gallagher will surely believe that should his Donegal men pick their way past Cork next Saturday, then Dublin are vulnerable in the quarter-finals.
It has long been argued that stacking one’s defence against such an extravagant attacking force as Dublin is merely inviting disaster. With McCarthy and McCaffrey out, the temptation for Donegal to abjure five years of reactive gospel and attack Dublin would be very great.
The talk of Dublin dominating the game for a generation was always lazy and hysterical, but this is a reminder that no team in an amateur sport is immune to weakness. They are the champions and their resources swamp those of everyone else, but Dublin are prey to the same challenges as their rivals.
Bad news for James McCarthy threatens to influence the entire Championship pursuit.
‘THE RACE FOR SAM HAS BEEN GIVEN AN UNEXPECTED PLOT TURN’