Dublin get their National Hurling League campaign underway on Saturday evening with a game they likely would have preferred was played a little later in the fixture list. Ger Cunningham's side, who are favourites to be relegated from Division 1A, take on All-Ireland champions Tipperary with a young panel shorn of several Cuala players.
Tomorrow evening's game is being played as part of double header with the Dublin footballers at Croke Park. The All-Ireland football champions play Tyrone with throw-in at 7pm.
Dublin captain Liam Rushe understands why the games have been scheduled as such - it makes commercial sense for the county board. But Rushe, quoted by the Irish Independent, believes that it will be to the detriment of his side - 'There is no home advantage'.
The Palmerstown player says games played in the early evening at Croke Park have 'very little atmosphere' and that it would be easier to create one at an 'abandoned club field'.
We spoke about it before as a team. You really have to bring your own intensity, basically create your own atmosphere as a team.
And it really is difficult. It would be easier to create it on an abandoned club field. At least it's tight there, you might have some sort of perimeters. In Croke Park, it's just an enormous cavern, just the 15 or 20 people shouting. So that is an extra challenge.
There is no home advantage in playing matches at Croker. I understand why they want to do it. It makes commercial sense to put the two teams in there together. But whoever we play will probably have played there as often as we have - Tipperary in first game, they've only played there in September.
Photo by Daire Brennan/Sportsfile
