KERRY BOSS JACK O’Connor insists he is not surprised by the resurgence in form Dublin have experienced, as they have shaken off the struggles they endured earlier this year in the league and Leinster championship.
O’Connor believes Dublin’s previous problems have no bearing on how they are currently performing, and he is not surprised by the upswing in form that has seen them defeat Cavan, Donegal and Galway in their last three games.
“They still have huge quality in that team, those players didn’t become bad players overnight. They still have lads with five or six All-Ireland medals. Kilkenny, Con O’Callaghan, Scully, Paddy Small, Costello, Basquel, Bugler, Howard, Davy Byrne and these fellas — they still have huge experience in that group.
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“They obviously struggled with injuries and the suspension to Ger Brennan obviously didn’t help. So I always felt that if they got their men back and got on a bit of a run, they were going to be highly dangerous. You don’t lose that quality. The store of experience and know-how is in their DNA. You don’t lose that.
“You might lose a bit of motivation here and there but once they got a smell of it and got on a bit of a run, and the crowd have come back obviously in a big way. They’ll say to themselves that Kerry have only beaten us once in the last seven and that was by a point with a fairly iconic kick by Seánie, so they’ll say, ‘We’ll take these fellas down the stretch and we’ll still have it over them’ — that’s the way they’ll be thinking.”
The resilience displayed by Dublin was praised by O’Connor and their capacity to time their run to impact in the All-Ireland series.
“The only thing I’d say is that if this championship has proven anything, it’s that teams that can time their run are the teams that are getting to the business end. Six, seven, eight weeks ago, Donegal were everybody’s favourites for the All-Ireland. It’s about building slowly and just hanging in there until the business end of it and then putting your best foot forward.
“That’s what Dublin have done. There were times that they struggled this year, but they survived. With the experience they have in that group, when you count all the All-Ireland medals that they still have on the field, it’s a fair prospect. I think that collective experience has stood to them, that they didn’t panic. They’ve obviously turned a big corner now and they’ll be highly dangerous.”
O’Connor revealed that the injury crisis of recent months that afflicted their squad has largely cleared up and that defender Brian Ó Beaglaioch, who was a late withdrawal in the quarter-final win over Tyrone, is available for selection.
“He’s back doing a bit of training. There are always bits and pieces, always a few fellas that you have concerns about. But there’s nothing major at the minute anyway. There are still two sessions to go, so we’ll know more after tomorrow and Thursday.”
The news on defender Tom O’Sullivan is positive but that goalkeeper Shane Ryan is not likely to be involved on Sunday next due to a minor setback.
“Tom is fine. He’s back training fully. Shane Ryan is doing bits. He’s not fully at it yet so we’ll see how he’s going this coming week. Shane aggravated it a bit, so that’s why he was out of the panel the last day.”
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'They still have huge quality in that team' - O'Connor not surprised by Dublin resurgence
KERRY BOSS JACK O’Connor insists he is not surprised by the resurgence in form Dublin have experienced, as they have shaken off the struggles they endured earlier this year in the league and Leinster championship.
O’Connor believes Dublin’s previous problems have no bearing on how they are currently performing, and he is not surprised by the upswing in form that has seen them defeat Cavan, Donegal and Galway in their last three games.
“They still have huge quality in that team, those players didn’t become bad players overnight. They still have lads with five or six All-Ireland medals. Kilkenny, Con O’Callaghan, Scully, Paddy Small, Costello, Basquel, Bugler, Howard, Davy Byrne and these fellas — they still have huge experience in that group.
“They obviously struggled with injuries and the suspension to Ger Brennan obviously didn’t help. So I always felt that if they got their men back and got on a bit of a run, they were going to be highly dangerous. You don’t lose that quality. The store of experience and know-how is in their DNA. You don’t lose that.
“You might lose a bit of motivation here and there but once they got a smell of it and got on a bit of a run, and the crowd have come back obviously in a big way. They’ll say to themselves that Kerry have only beaten us once in the last seven and that was by a point with a fairly iconic kick by Seánie, so they’ll say, ‘We’ll take these fellas down the stretch and we’ll still have it over them’ — that’s the way they’ll be thinking.”
The resilience displayed by Dublin was praised by O’Connor and their capacity to time their run to impact in the All-Ireland series.
“The only thing I’d say is that if this championship has proven anything, it’s that teams that can time their run are the teams that are getting to the business end. Six, seven, eight weeks ago, Donegal were everybody’s favourites for the All-Ireland. It’s about building slowly and just hanging in there until the business end of it and then putting your best foot forward.
“That’s what Dublin have done. There were times that they struggled this year, but they survived. With the experience they have in that group, when you count all the All-Ireland medals that they still have on the field, it’s a fair prospect. I think that collective experience has stood to them, that they didn’t panic. They’ve obviously turned a big corner now and they’ll be highly dangerous.”
O’Connor revealed that the injury crisis of recent months that afflicted their squad has largely cleared up and that defender Brian Ó Beaglaioch, who was a late withdrawal in the quarter-final win over Tyrone, is available for selection.
“He’s back doing a bit of training. There are always bits and pieces, always a few fellas that you have concerns about. But there’s nothing major at the minute anyway. There are still two sessions to go, so we’ll know more after tomorrow and Thursday.”
The news on defender Tom O’Sullivan is positive but that goalkeeper Shane Ryan is not likely to be involved on Sunday next due to a minor setback.
“Tom is fine. He’s back training fully. Shane Ryan is doing bits. He’s not fully at it yet so we’ll see how he’s going this coming week. Shane aggravated it a bit, so that’s why he was out of the panel the last day.”
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