The word is that Dublin will play their championship opener in a venue that is not Croke Park.
If so, that will mark a career first for Bernard Brogan, who sat on the bench the last time Dublin played a championship game anywhere other than Croker (read about that game).
Dublin have drawn the winners of Laois and Wicklow and are likely to face them in Nowlan Park in Kilkenny, for some reason. What exactly would be wrong with Portlaoise, for instance? We haven't reached the stage where another team are deserving of a home game against Dublin, clearly.
Bernard Brogan admitted to John Fogarty in the Irish Examiner today that the fact that he has never played outside Croker in the championship annoys him.
Yeah, definitely. I wouldn’t like people to say, ‘Aw, you wouldn’t have had the success you’ve had if you hadn’t played all your games in Croke Park’ because obviously at Croke Park the pitch is immaculate but I think the standard of grounds around the country is quite sharp...
I think that Croke Park is just as much a level playing field as any other pitch.
We go around the country four or five times in every National League and play and represent ourselves well and get some great results. So I’d hate for people to say we wouldn’t have had the same success if we hadn’t have played all our games in Croke Park.
Very few people any longer advance the idea that simple home advantage is the primary reason behind Dublin's dominance of the Leinster championship. A great deal has changed since Longford got within two points of Dublin in the 2006 championship. Dublin hadn't won an All-Ireland in eleven years and no one had yet floated the idea of splitting the county in two.
However, while Dublin will surely win the Leinster title in any event, it is still right that they play at least one game outside their normal habitat. The obvious absurdity of the best team in the country playing every bloody game at home is coming to an end.
And like most Dublin players and supporters, Brogan said he would only love to see the Dubs on tour.
Read more: Balls Remembers The Last Time Dublin Played A Championship Match Outside Croke Park
