DUBLIN GAA CHIEFS are set to meet with senior hurling boss Anthony Daly next week to discover whether the former Clare All-Ireland winning captain is keen to stay on in charge of the capital’s senior hurlers for a fifth season in 2013.
Speculation about Daly’s future as Dublin manager has intensified in the wake of their disappointing recent All-Ireland qualifier exit against Clare and Dublin chairman Andy Kettle, who has backed Daly to remain in charge, is hopeful of soon starting to ascertain Daly’s intentions.
“We did say in the immediate aftermath of the Clare game that it would be two to three weeks. We’ll let this week go and after the Meath Dublin match, I would see us making contact. One way or the other, we’ll need to meet him. If he’s not coming back, and I hope he is coming, we’ll need to start looking. The longer you leave it, it’ll be harder to get someone.
“Taking time is something we’ve tended to do. We did it with Pat Gilroy. It’s coming from a different perspective alright as he was coming from a success last year whereas this is a perceived failure. It’s an amateur game. These people are are amateurs and they’re giving of their time. He’s a life to lead, the same as Pat Gilroy. You have to give people a chance to sort out things.
“Something went wrong from the previous year and that’s a wrong that needs to be corrected. Anybody who buys into the correction should be part and parcel of next year’s squad. Again the players, some of them have been on the road for quite a while, they need to sit back and assess their lives. We wouldn’t see the panel being significantly different next year but that’s down to individuals.”
Dublin’s miserable season began with relegation from Division 1A of the league but despite the fact that they will be plying their at the lower level of Division 1B next year, Kettle is optimistic that the successful Spring Series concept, whereby both Dublin’s flagship county teams play league games in a double-header at Croke Park, will be reprised.
“If fixtures work out and we get double-headers, the overall attraction of the hurlers and footballers on the same programme will carry it through. The hurling obviously would not be perceived to be as attractive. If we get Limerick at home and maybe one of the other stronger counties, that could make the difference.”
On the matter of attendances, Kettle is forecasting that next Sunday’s provincial football decider will come close to a sell out at Croke Park.
“It’ll be near enough to it. I think they could be pulling the covers off those front rows this weekend. It’s down to population and Dublin has the population. If Leitrim and Longford came to Croke Park and brought everyone with them, they still wouldn’t fill it. Also Cork people for instance have a good distance to travel, so it’s easier for Dublin people. But Dublin Meath is always a great game. Particularly where I come from in north county Dublin, the next parish is Meath so it’s huge rivalry but a good rivalry.”
Kettle also revealed that the discussions are ongoing concerning the proposal contained in the county’s ‘Blue Wave’ strategy that was released last November, which would see Dublin gain provincial status in terms of funding received from the GAA at a national level.
“It’s still in progress at the moment, both with Croke Park and the Leinster Council. The next management meeting should see meetings with important committees like commercial, infrastructure, coaching and games. But some of the targets have been actually met. It’s certainly not gathering dust on a shelf.”
