ALAN BROGAN HAS warned Gaelic football fans may stop attending games if one-sided encounters continue.
The Dublin forward helped his side claim their latest emphatic victory last Sunday at the expense of Fermanagh in Croke Park.
After previously cruising to another Leinster title, Dublin are entering the last four All-Ireland stage without receiving a serious championship test to date this summer.
I don’t think it’s a good thing to see teams coming to Croke Park and losing by 20 or 25 points.
“People will stop coming. I’m not sure if I’d be too interested to go and watch matches where Dublin win by 25 points, or somebody else is winning by 25 points.
“So certainly it’s something that has to be looked at – and I would imagine probably sooner rather than later, because the guys in these counties just won’t want to put in that effort that needs to be put in to really compete at the top level.
“I haven’t given much thought to how I’d structure a second-tier competition or whether it’s worthwhile having a second competition.”
Competition
Brogan is an exception in the current Dublin squad as his career has encompassed a period of huge competition within Leinster football.
“It hasn’t always been like this. Five or six years ago – and I even mentioned it to some of the lads at the weekend – when we used to play in the Leinster championship against the likes of Laois and Westmeath, we had some great battles.
In ’05, ’06, ’07, ’08, around those times, and obviously Meath beat us in ’10.
“Maybe it’s a case that as the stronger teams are getting stronger, the so-called weaker teams maybe don’t want to put in the same effort because they’re not getting rewards out of it.
“But it’s hard for me to say because I’m on this side of the fence, I don’t understand or know what’s going on in these other counties.”
Underage
Dublin’s underage renaissance has been central to the stranglehold they have exerted in the Leinster.
“Maybe it’s a product of Dublin being so well organised at underage level,” says Brogan.
“I know Stephen O’Shaughnessy of the county board put a huge amount of work into the development squads.
He’s gone out to ex-players, he’s got them back involved.
“Jason Sherlock is involved with under-13s, Ciaran Whelan is involved with the 14s of 15s, so there’s a huge amount of work gone into that.
“And maybe we’re seeing the fruits of that.”
