If Jim Gavin had his way Dublin would field a team with names on their back, not numbers. That way there would be less assumption about their positions, and whether or not they started or came off the bench.
At least that was Gavin's way of answering the question of what team he was likely to field against Meath in Sunday's Leinster football final – particularly when it came to names like Cormac Costello and Dean Rock. It clearly doesn't matter to Gavin whether one, both or neither of them start, because it wouldn't change their role in the Dublin team, nor indeed anyone else's.
“We’ve always espoused the team philosophy,” says the Dublin manager, “that it takes more than 15 players to win a game. It’s not about the start or the finish. If we had our way, we’d name the team alphabetically. We don’t place any emphasis on the number on a player’s back.
“It’s what he can do for the team. Whether that’s finishing a game or starting a game. And that’s the management’s job, to select those players on a tactical level for the team, and to get the best use of the players. Sometimes that means finishing a game. And sometimes that means starting and giving the team bedrock.”
Rock did exactly that in Dublin's semi-final win over Wexford – starting at centre-forward, and kicking four first-half frees: he was then replaced by Costello at half-time, who added 1-5 to Dublin's total, including two frees.
Fully recovered
The natural assumption would be that Costello is more likely to start on Sunday, but then
Bernard Brogan
– now fully recovered from the hamstring strain which forced him to miss the Wexford game – is even more likely to start, ahead of both Costello and Rock.
Still, by replacing Rock at half-time in the Wexford game, Gavin appeared to send out a signal that he wasn’t entirely satisfied with the way Rock was playing, although that would be the wrong assumption: “I think he [Rock] took his chance,” says Gavin.
“He played well in the context of the game plan that we wanted him to play. Some people mightn’t see that, but his free kicks were clinical. And he did his duty in this game. He just stepped up to the mark. He’s playing very well in training again, so he will have more time in a Dublin jersey.”
Those Dublin jerseys, says Gavin, might be numbered 1-15, and so on, but, like age, they are just a number: Gavin would actually prefer basketball-style squad numbers – “that would make eminent sense” – although that mightn’t work with every team. What is certain is that Gavin has cultivated a new culture in Dublin where players do genuinely value the jersey, no matter what number is on it.
“It is part of our culture. The focus from the media’s perspective is on the starting 15. But certainly, in the Dublin camp, the emphasis is not on it. We focus on positions, not numbers.”
Ruled out
Ger Brennan is definitely ruled out for Sunday, as he continues to recover from an ankle operation, with
Nicky Devereux
set to continue at centre-back. Up front, again assuming Bernard Brogan will start, it’s likely Kevin McManamon will resume a substitutes role, alongside Eoghan O’Gara.
McManamon replaced O'Gara in last year's Leinster final, where Dublin eventually ground down Meath's resistance, winning 2-15 to 0-14. One year on, Gavin justifiably expects even more resistance in Croke Park on Sunday, especially after seeing Meath score 9-29 in the last two games, against Carlow, and then Kildare.
“Yeah, they’ve been impressive in both games, playing traditional Meath football. Very solid in defence. Very mobile in their half-back, midfield, half-forward line area.
And they have multiple options up front. And they’ve got players back that they didn’t have last year. So it probably is a stronger set of Meath players, with another year of development with their management team.”
Still, Dublin do start as favourites, not that Gavin was assuming anything about that: “We’ve seen the best teams in the world in a different sport not having success (referring to the World Cup). So it’s on a given day. And any time Dublin play Meath, they can go either way.”
