DUBLIN BOSS GER Cunningham has received the backing of young defender Eoghan O’Donnell in his bid to take charge of the county’s senior hurlers for a third year.
The Sky Blues had a disappointing summer, which ended with a three-point defeat to Cork in the qualifiers. They had earlier fallen to Kilkenny in the Leinster semi-final.
Cunningham is set to take part in a season review with the county board before a decision is made on the Cork man’s future.
“I haven’t really paid any attention to the politics,” O’Donnell says. “There’s always rumours going around. Personally I hope he does stay on. He’s done a lot of hard work.
“There’s things we need to work on. But he’s put a huge platform there. And it could be a huge year next year.”
The 20-year-old is part of a new crop of young Dublin hurlers making their mark at senior level. He started all three championship games this year, while fellow U21s James Madden and Chris Bennett found themselves in the starting lineup for that final game against Cork. Sean Treacy, another promising talent, featured against the Rebels that day off the bench.
“Personally, I was happy with the year,” he says. “As a 20 year old, it is tough to get a position. It’s so competitive. So I was delighted myself to grab a jersey.
“Next year is a new year and there’s lads coming back from injury. So we’ll have to work even harder to keep your jersey. Now is only the start of it.
O’Donnell continues: “It was kind of a building year. Ger has brought a lot of young lads on to the team. It’s important to being them on. They’re the lads of the future.
“This year was coming to grips and finding our feet. So next year will be the real year when lads stand up and grab it by the scruff of the neck.”
On the other hand, there has been speculation that there will be some significant retirements — with David ‘Dotsy’ O’Callaghan and Niall Corcoran falling into the high-risk category.
“I don’t think decisions are made now. You have to take a couple of weeks or months to digest what happened and get your emotions in order.
“It’s a tough decision to make. They’ve given so much to Dublin hurling. I know Dotsy is carrying an injury at the moment.
“So I’m not sure what they’ll do. They’ve been great servants to Dublin hurling over the years and I hope we see them back.
“Even if it’s not so much playing on the pitch as giving people advice in the dressing-room. So hopefully we see them back but it’s their decision.”
O’Donnell’s immediate focus is on the weekend, though. Tomorrow the Dublin U21s face Galway, a talented squad but they haven’t played a competitive game yet this year.
“We’ve had a good run this year. We had three tough games; Wexford, Westmeath and Offaly.
“But Galway have been training all year. Just as hard as anyone. They’ve been playing challenge games.
“Just because they haven’t played Championship games…they’ve been training together and playing matches. Galway will be a huge team. They won the minor Championship last year.”
Eoghan O’Donnell was speaking at the Bord Gáis Energy U-21 Hurling Championship All Ireland Semi-Finals Media Day in Croke Park.
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