Dublin go deep into the lions’ den when they face All-Ireland Champions Galway in Salthill tomorrow evening, already eliminated for this years All-Ireland competition. After a tough league, Pat Gilroy's first Championship in charge of Dublin hurling has struck many positive notes.
They came very close to beating both Kilkenny and Wexford, before securing Liam MacCarthy survival with a handy win over Offaly.
The county’s hurling director Colm Burtchaell says that no matter what happens in Pearse Stadium tomorrow, Gilroy’s men are in a good place to progress over the next few years.
Burtchaell admits that the last few years have seen some hurdles presented for the county’s senior team but feels that the Dubs are in a good place to continue their progression.
There were some issues with players not being in squads or players walking away but everyone has got on with it this season again.
And we were unlucky in a few results this season.
But we have kept out status in the Liam MacCarthy Cup and that’s crucial.
Going to play Galway will be extremely tough but it will be another challenge for the lads to face and they have responded well this summer. This game will bring them on again.
Burtchaell is happy that the work taking place under the radar will stay paying dividends for Dublin hurling.
The truth of the matter is that, although we may not be delivering All-Ireland titles, we have been competitive at minor and under-21 level since 2005.
That itself was a big thing.
Not so long ago it was a battle to get kids playing hurling – now you see them walking around the city and the suburbs with hurleys in their hands.
Aside from the Dublin minor panel there were a good bunch that were up to a certain standard so I sent out the call for players to play in the Bank of Ireland Celtic Challenge series (All-Ireland under-17). I was hoping to get 30 players of a certain standard but we got 40.
We have two teams in the Celtic Challenge, Dublin Clarke and Dublin Plunkett, and they are top of Group C. These lads have a route back into the minor team through this competition. Last year we reached the Special All-Ireland under-17 final against Cork and a couple of our players from the Celtic Challenge squads were called into that Under-17 squad for that final.
So it’s all positive. Another influence is third-level education access. There have been more Dublin players involved in the Fitzgibbon Cup. For many years there weren’t too many Dubs playing at that level so it’s great that they are now getting quality coaching and playing quality opposition.”
Despite a problematic period in the past few years, when the team struggled to kick on post-Anthony Daly, and there was huge transition in the panel, Burtchaell feels that the county’s foundations are solid enough to soon get back to winning ways.
It is a slow process, though, he warns.
I’m not saying we will be going out winning All-Irelands here, there and everywhere. But we have good numbers and if we can keep enough lads hurling and deal with the dual issue, we can stay competing and get back to winning titles.
That’s where a county with their resources, playing and otherwise, needs to be. They started winning silverware in earns in 2005 with a first Leinster title in 22 years.
A first Leinster under-21 championship in 35 years followed in 2007 and the county pushed Kilkenny at every underage grade in that time.
The lack of an All-Ireland title in these age groups has been a disappointment but those teams have provided two to three players each season for the senior team and that’s a good marker for the future.
An All-Ireland title at some level would be great because it will bring more lads into the game. I was looking at one of our underage teams recently and we had seven fellas from Finglas. We had 12 different clubs represented on this year’s minor panel. That’s a great spread and it shows the game is going well here.
The impact of Dublin’s footballers – the winners of the last three All-Ireland titles – means that dual players will most likely continue to look to football first.
When Dublin reached two All-Ireland minor hurling finals in 2011 and 2012, a number of the stars opted to concentrate on football. Players like Cormac Costello, Emmet Ó Conghaile, Ciarán Kilkenny and Con O’Callaghan are high-profile examples.
But the hurling fraternity has made headway and players such as Eoghan O’Donnell and Danny Sutcliffe both chose hurling even though they were in demand with the footballers at one stage.
The key thing for us in Dublin hurling is to stay working hard on the ground. If we can get it right there we’ll get it right further up the ladder.
