Talk about domination.
Jim Gavin’s all conquering Dublin are in hot-pursuit of a third successive All-Ireland crown, and with them showing no signs of slowing down, calls are being made to split the county in two in order to level the playing field.
Colm O’Rourke lead the charge on The Sunday Game, after yet another Dublin annihilation, and he faced outrage from many Dublin supporters.
The fact is that O’Rourke has been saying this for so long, even when Dublin weren’t dominating. He saw the structures they had in place, he saw the numbers, he did the maths, and he saw what was coming.
They’ve won the last seven Leinster titles, they won last year’s All-Ireland under-21. They are untouchable.
The topic came under discussion on Monday’s GAA Hour, and host Colm Parkinson and Meath man Cian Ward were in thorough agreement about the matter.
“The Dublin forward line of the players that didn’t start was Flynn, McMenamin, Connolly, Brogan, O’Gara, Costello. Michael Darragh Macauley didn’t even see game time yesterday,” said Colm Parkinson.
“This isn’t anti-Dublin. It isn’t a knee-jerk reaction.
The Laois man went on to argue that Dublin’s frightening numbers, their ridiculous strength doesn’t promote the game in the capital. It only encourages the best players even more, but gives your average GAA player no reason to continue.
“This is for all under-age players in Dublin and what kind of a chance they have of playing inter-county football. While their population is an advantage, it’s a huge disadvantage for young people trying to play inter-county football. That’s minor, under-21, senior and even the development squads. They could have 200 young fellas going for a squad at 25.
“If Dublin was split in two. It could still easily be Dublin Vs. Dublin because of how well they have their house in order.
“It gives way more players a chance. The likes of Paul Flynn, Bernard Brogan, they’ll all probably have to retire early because of the young lads coming through.
“People always say ‘this is cyclical.’ Just look at the Leinster Championship, it’s a dead-duck and could be for ten, fifteen more years. (because of Dublin’s dominance)
Many critics claim that this is just a golden generation, that Dublin’s dominance will wean. In reality 2011 was a golden generation, and the majority of those players have moved on to have been replaced by another golden group.
“The idea that this is a Dublin golden generation is wrong. People think that this is still the 2011 team. It’s about three different teams. To me the likes of Paul Flynn, Rory O’Carroll, the two Brogans, Denis Bastick and so on. They were the golden generation.
“Now there’s another Dublin golden generation, and if you were a betting man, you’d say there’s going to be another one and another one because they’re so well organised,” said the Laois man.
“This will only benefit Dublin football in general in the long run. In the long run, you’re going to have two incredibly strong teams, because you’re only going to have half the amount of people dropping off.”
Bernard Brogan, who was brilliant off the bench against Kildare, didn’t even come on, and nobody even thought this was strange. No Dublin fans argued his case, they didn’t have to.
Imagine how valued he, and Michael Darragh Macauley would be in another county.
“You have a situation where Michael Darragh Macauley and Bernard Brogan don’t even get a run in an All-Ireland semi-final. This could be their last year, but these lads would be a top forward in any other county for the next three years.
“What Jim Gavin did to Bernard Brogan yesterday was completely out of order, but how Dublin played is just a compliment to him and his management team, they were unbelievably good,” added Parkinson.
Former Meath star Cian Ward argued that the numbers of kids playing GAA in Dublin is increasing at an even faster rate, and questions how these youngsters will continue to be motivated.
“The number of players at Dublin clubs is mind blowing. I just can’t understand how they can give a chance to all these kids (if they keep going the way they’re going)
“You could have four county teams within Dublin and they could be the four All-Ireland semi-finalists. You just have to look at the numbers of it.
“What it’s also doing is completely demoralising other teams.
It certainly should be up for debate.
You can listen to this discussion (from 14″00′) and much more from Monday’s GAA Hour right here.
