Dublin star denies siege mentality

CIARÁN KILKENNY has shrugged off the notion that Jim Gavin is trying to create a siege mentality within the Dublin camp by blackballing RTÉ over the national broadcaster’s coverage of the Diarmuid Connolly affair. In the wake of Sunday’s 31-point rout of Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final, Gavin broke from protocol by refusing to do a one-on-one interview afterwards with RTÉ. But All Star forward Kilkenny said the players were ‘oblivious’ to the press conference scene that has only refocused attention on Connolly. ‘We don’t look at that kind of stuff as players. We can’t afford to look at that sort of stuff or look at what’s going on in the media. So we just focus on keeping ourselves right, individually and then collectively as a group. ‘Straight after the game, I was oblivious. You wouldn’t be knowing what’s going on in the background. We’re just focused on playing and focused on our preparation and our training and recovery. ‘As soon as the incident happened and the ban, Dermo wants to move on and the team wants to move on so I’m sure a lot of you want to move on!’ The whole controversy though has been reheated by Gavin, as he publicly took issue with The Sunday Game analysis of the incident in the Carlow quarterfinal where the Dublin player laid a finger on sideline official Ciaran Branagan, particularly the analysis of pundits Pat Spillane and Colm O’Rourke. However, Castleknock clubman Kilkenny (left) felt that his manager is well within his rights to go out to bat on Connolly’s behalf. ‘I suppose it’s a duty of care as a manager to look after and protect your players, and that’s his responsibility as a manager,’ he added.