Monday’s announcement of a new training panel by Dublin hurling manager Ger Cunningham means that just six of the team that started the historic 2013 Leinster final win against Galway are still involved with the county.
In fact, just 10 of that match-day panel were included in the names released by Dublin.
Although natural evolution played a role in the switch to a younger generation, a number of players have ruled themselves out, most prominently two of the county’s All Stars Danny Sutcliffe and Peter Kelly. Also gone is the captain of the Leinster championship team, John McCaffrey.
The panel is not set in stone and will be open in the weeks leading up to the start of new season. County champions Cuala, who retained their title, have eight players on the panel, but with the club in the Leinster semi-finals and hopeful of going one better than last year by winning the provincial title, Dublin could be short a significant number by the time the 2017 league begins.
The county has done well in the past two seasons to stay in what has been a cut-throat Division One A and will clearly be under pressure to protect that status over the course of the short, six-match programme.
To guard against that eventuality, a development squad of about a dozen players is being assembled. None of them will be involved in the county’s ongoing under-21 championship and will avail of training sessions while the club season is largely in abeyance.
Solid foundation
“It is largely a young squad,” Cunningham told dublingaa.ie, “but, along with our aims of continuing to try and make Dublin hurling successful in the short term, one of our key aims is building a solid foundation for the future. With this young squad, and with Dublin winning Leinster minor and under-21 titles this year, we feel we can develop and grow the potential within Dublin hurling”.
Included in the 38-strong panel are newcomers from those under-age provincial winners this summer: Jake Malone, Eoghan Conroy and Jonathan Tracey from the under-21s and Leinster winning minors Cian O’Sullivan, Donal Burke and Paddy Smyth.
The 2017 Dublin hurling panel: Shane Barrett (Na Fianna), Chris Bennett (Faughs), Cian Boland (St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh), Donal Burke (Na Fianna), Tom Connolly (St Vincent’s), Eoghan Conroy (St Maurs), Chris Crummey (Lucan Sarsfields), Conor Dooley (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Eamon Dillon (Naomh Fionnbarra), Oisín Gough (Cuala), James Madden (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Gary Maguire (Ballyboden St Enda’s) Canice Maher (St Jude’s), Jake Malone (Cuala), Seán Moran (Cuala), Rian McBride, (St Vincent’s), Cian Mac Gabhann, (Kilmacud Crokes), Fiontan McGibb (Setanta), Seán McGrath (Kilmacud Crokes), Niall McMorrow (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Cian O’Callaghan (Cuala), David O’Callaghan (Ballyboden St Enda’s), Darragh O’Connell (Cuala), Eoghan O’Donnell (Whitehall), Ryan O’Dwyer (Kilmacud Crokes), Oisín O’Rorke (Kilmacud Crokes), Fionn O’Riain-Broin (St Jude’s), Cian O’Sullivan (St Brigid’s), Alex Quinn (Crumlin), Ben Quinn (Crumlin), Liam Rushe (St Pat’s), Mark Schutte (Cuala), Paul Schutte (Cuala), Paddy Smyth (Clontarf), David Treacy (Cuala), Jonathan Treacy (Na Fianna), Ronan Walsh (Kilmacud Crokes), Fergal Whitely (Kilmacud Crokes)
*Next year’s Fitzgibbon Cup finals weekend will be hosted by NUIG on the last weekend (24th and 25th) in February. The Galway university have won 10 titles, most recently in 2010 when they last hosted the tournament. The draws for the GAA’s higher education competitions will take place in December, with Mary Immaculate College in Limerick looking to retain the Fitzgibbon, which they won for the first time last season, and UCD footballers looking to defend the Sigerson Cup.
