DUBLIN SELECTOR RICHIE Stakelum says Anthony Daly’s playing and management team have learned from the mistakes of the past.
The Dubs are preparing for a novel All-Ireland SHC semi-final pairing against Cork at Croke Park this weekend.
But the Tipp native insists the Blues have not lost the run of themselves since the stunning Leinster final defeat of Galway last time out, in the wake of the defeat of Kilkenny.
“[Kilkenny] around a while themselves, they know we’ve created this aura of the great ogre, this incredible Kilkenny team – which they are, the greatest team of all time as far as I’m concerned, I’ve never seen a better team,” says Stakelum.
“When the match was over that night the players themselves said, job done, got back on the bus and went back to Dublin. There were no mad celebrations; we’ve learned bitterly from that kind of thing where we’ve lost the plot.”
And Stakelum agrees there’ll be no one with the camp settling for a provincial title this year.
“No, if that’s it now, if fellas settle for that, we’re doing ourselves a disservice,” he says. “The last place in the world you want to be is settled; we would have stressed that you never get complacent, you never think ‘well I’m here now and I’m only 20 years of age, there’ll be plenty of other opportunities’. That’s now how it works. There can be injury, other factors — you’ve got to grasp the chance when it’s there.”
Dublin face Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s side at GAA HQ on Sunday afternoon with Clare and Limerick facing off the following week.
