LAST UPDATE | 6 Jun 2022
THE ADDITION OF Dublin hurling captain Eoghan O’Donnell to the county’s footballers will need to be managed correctly, according to former footballer of the year Marc Ó Sé.
O’Donnell was a Dublin minor footballer before opting for hurling. Last week the Irish Independent reported that the Whitehall club player has joined Dessie Farrell’s squad ahead of the All-Ireland quarter-finals.
On The Throw-In, Philly McMahon suggested O’Donnell’s welcome depends on his position and the 26-year old could be included to bolster their defence.
‘If you bring him in as a full forward and he plays ahead of the other full forwards who have been there for the last few years, you are going to kind of piss them off a little bit,” he said.
Speaking on the latest episode of The42 GAA Weekly, Ó Sé agreed the matter had to be handled delicately.
“The big thing is because it is midseason. I’ve seen examples of this in the past, when players come in midseason, it has created controversy. We had it in our own county.
“Stephen O’Neill came in before the All-Ireland (2008). Mickey Harte dealt with it very well on that occasion, he left it up to the players.
“When it is the players that decide it is completely different. We did it in 2002. Tadhg Kennelly came home from Australia prior to our final against Armagh, he was in training with us. The big question was if Páidí was going to bring him in or not. He decided against doing it.
“Paul Galvin in 2015. To be honest, I was delighted to see Paul back but I know there were players in that position who maybe weren’t too happy.”
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Ó Sé said midseason call-ups can add value. He pointed to the final minutes of the 2015 All-Ireland final when Paul Galvin came on and created a goal chance that would have drawn Kerry level.
The most important thing is managing the panel.
“The worry is they will take their position. Not even on the team, on the panel. A player might be excluded from the panel on matchday. You don’t ever hear those things at the time. You hear them after.
“I can see how it upsets the dynamics of a dressing room. From a Dublin point of view, it will be interesting to see where he is playing. If it is the forwards, will it upset some of the boys there? It probably will. Again, I go back to Mickey Harte, when Stephen O’Neill came back in, I was marking him. When players decide, then it is a very clever move by the manager.”
