GAA NEWS:IT'S HIS first championship match, against the old enemy, and he's named a fairly innocent looking team. Strange thing is Pat Gilroy appeared more relaxed than at any other point in his short managerial career.
No Ciarán Whelan, no Shane Ryan, no Jason Sherlock, no Tomás Quinn, no Bryan Cullen – and no particular reason why not. There are three championship debutants and three more unexpected selections, but if Gilroy did have any doubts about their ability to stand up against Meath on Sunday then he didn’t show it at yesterday’s press conference in DCU.
In fact when the team-sheet was handed around some us wondered if it was just a decoy, and come Sunday at 4.0pm, Whelan, Ryan, Sherlock and company will come dashing out of the Croke Park tunnel with more familiar numbers on their backs, and all order will be restored.
“No, there won’t be any of that,” said Gilroy with a smile, “unless somebody does something to themselves between now and Sunday. We’ll wait and see the Meath team, and if something extraordinary happens we may have to adjust it. But that’s the plan, to line out like that.”
It means Dublin line out with less than half the team that fell to Tyrone in last summer’s All-Ireland quarter-final. Seven, to be exact – Stephen Cluxton, David Henry, Ross McConnell, Paul Griffin, Barry Cahill, Alan Brogan, and Conal Keaney.
Denis Bastick of Templeogue Synge Street will make his debut at full back, as will corner back Alan Hubbard of Ballymun Kickhams, and full forward Mark Davoren of All-Ireland club champions Kilmacud Crokes. Club mate Darren Magee is named at midfield, alongside McConnell, last year’s full back, with Paul Flynn and Paddy Andrews both getting the nod in the half-forward line.
“The basic shape of that team played in a couple of games towards the end of the league,” explained Gilroy, sounding very self-convinced. “It has been very difficult to pick the team alright, because there are so many guys in contention. Which is what we set out to do. It’s good that competition is there, and if any of the guys are not performing we have serious options on the line, which is the way we want to have it.
“And I think if you look at the team most of those guys were involved last year. Nearly everybody who played against Tyrone is still involved in the panel. This team has been fairly close over the last number of years. Yes, we did want to find players to put pressure on guys. There are changes from last year, but not a lot of changes from what went on in the league.
“So I wouldn’t say it was a conscious effort to change people. But there’s great competition there, and that was a conscious effort alright.”
It’s just a Dublin team starting against Meath without the likes of Whelan and Sherlock feels like a big change – but what Gilroy was looking for was a balance; the best Dublin he had, and the best Dublin team to play Meath.
“And I think it’s a mixture of both,” he added. “You’ve got to take into account the opposition, but it’s basically a team that has been picked on the way people have been playing in training, and over the last number of games. And also we haven’t picked guys who have picked up knocks, and missed some of key training, because we had the options to put in guys who are 100 per cent fit.”
Quinn, for example, has missed some training with an ankle injury, but will still feature on the bench. But given it is Gilroy’s first year in charge it can’t have been easy telling Whelan and other seasoned campaigners they’ll be on the bench as well.
“Guys like that never want to be left out of a team, ever, but that’s part of your job. You’ve got to manage those situations.
“It’s different reasons for different guys. But within the squad everybody has been very positive around the whole thing, they want to get on with the job of beating Meath.
“There’s been no one moaning or hanging their heads. I have to say all those senior guys who aren’t playing have been just totally positive and encouraging the guys who are playing.”
There is plenty of experience nonetheless. Bernard Brogan and Conal Keaney, who will share the free-taking duties, are certainly no strangers to the big day in Croke Park, nor is Ger Brennan – the sole starting member from Gilroy’s club St Vincent’s, that won the All-Ireland there in 2008.
League form, and status, suggests Dublin should handle Meath, although with care, obviously.
“I think Meath are always a serious danger when they’re playing Dublin. They raise their game to a much higher level, and really it can be a real good barometer for Meath, how they perform against Dublin. Maybe they had a blip last year but they have much the same players hanging around from that side that beat Tyrone two years ago. We’d be very conscious that this is going to be a real battle on Sunday,” said Gilroy.
“But I’m just looking forward it. Not necessarily nervous, or excited, just looked forward to seeing the guys go out and perform on the big stage.
“That’s what it’s all about for us. The National League can be a long, drawn-out affair, so it’s good to be down to the serious stuff. And the tougher the first game the better. This is the one you get to prepare exclusively for, in that it’s all we’ve been thinking about for the last six weeks.”
They’re not the only ones. Meath are due to announce their line-up after training this evening.
DUBLIN (SF v Meath):Stephen Cluxton; David Henry, Denis Bastick, Alan Hubbard; Paul Griffin, Ger Brennan, Barry Cahill; Ross McConnell, Darren Magee; Paul Flynn, Paddy Andrews, Bernard Brogan; Conal Keaney, Mark Davoren, Alan Brogan.
