‘If you look behind enough, you will get caught’ – Darcy

Dubs selector says players driven by desire to win not past glories

A VIDEO emerged from inside the Dublin camp earlier this week. It showed manager Jim Gavin paying tribute to one of the great Dublin players of the 1970s, Anton O’Toole.

At the top of the wall there is a small but perhaps telling inscription which reads: ‘If you feel safe, you are unsafe.’

Perhaps that is the attitude that has underpinned this Dublin effort. One game away from four All-Ireland titles in a row and there has been no discernible drop in attitude or application. For Declan Darcy, what has gone before is of no relevance. Perhaps that is why you haven’t heard the term ‘four-in-a-row’ much from members of the Dublin squad or management.

“It’s a bizarre kind of thought process and you’re probably thinking, ‘Ah, he’s only saying that’, but it’s not. I think it’s very deliberate too because if you look behind enough you will get caught. I’m sure the fellas have ref lected individually on what they’ve achieved but the language is never about that.

“It’s not deliberate, it’s just the way it’s evolved,” Darcy (above) explains. “I think it’s important. The group loves being in each other’s company and the camaraderie is underestimated. We enjoy what we do and we’re lucky that we have the players that we have.

“Jack McCaffrey, sure why wouldn’t you want to go to a match and see him perform? Ciarán Kilkenny, any of the players. They’re just fantastic footballers and it’s a privilege to be in this group.

“There’s a great energy to go out and perform in each and every game. They want to play another game and another game and another game. It has never been mentioned and it’s not a motivating factor either. If it happens, fantastic but it’s not a motivator for us.”

The results remain the same but there are continuously new players being brought into the mix. This year Bernard Brogan has hardly been available but Eoin Murchan has made a name for himself. Brian Howard has made big waves too. Dublin got a glimpse of how life after Stephen Cluxton might look when Evan Comerford played in goals in the Leinster final.

“Every year we have had an injection of players that have come in. In fairness to Brian and Con (O’Callaghan) last year, they were there tipping away and you knew that whenever that was happening it was never going to be a shift it was always going to be, if anything, an injection.

“It has been really good, Eoin Murchan as well. All the kids, all the younger players, there are some that you maybe hadn’t seen a whole lot of this year, but they’re doing really, really well within the group. “It’s fantastic to watch that. Some haven’t played. Eric Lowndes hasn’t played in the last two games, he’s a fantastic footballer and probably warrants a start possibly, but that’s just the way it has fallen for him unfortunately. It’s great to see the great attitude with them.” Tyrone pushed Dublin close in Omagh but missed a big chance to close to within a point when Ronan O’Neill was wide with a free.

“If he had kicked the point then we’re all asking the question what would have happened. People might say that Dublin might have kicked on but there are no guarantees what would have happened after that. We’ve seen last-minute goals, Monaghan and Kerry, anything can happen in sport. We’re all human beings, mistakes can happen and I’m sure it will give them some energy going into the game.

“I think that stage when they went after the game, played more attacking football, they gave us more challenges than before. It will be interesting to see how they set up tactically.”

And Darcy believes they will have improved since that ‘Super 8s’ clash.

“I think the biggest threat is the way they play as a team. Some days some players don’t play that well, like Peter Harte probably had a quiet enough game (v Monaghan), but his five-minute burst won them the game. He got the pass off for the goal and he got the next score. He has the quality to do that, any of them have it. I think it’s the collective is what you really have to be impressed with and that’s obviously down to Mickey Harte, it’s always been about the collective for him.”