It is fear that drives this Dublin team.
The fear of losing their place on the team. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they have done before, Jim Gavin doesn’t care – if they’re performing below their best they’re getting the curly finger. Yes, it’s a panel game now but no player wants the curly finger in Croke Park.
Being substituted is bad enough, but losing your starting place in the team is terrifying.
Brian Cody had that ruthless quality in Kilkenny. Like Dublin, no one was comfortable on the team and the team was picked on who was going well in training.
For the most part, picking your team on who is performing well in training is a brilliant idea. Imagine the competitiveness in those A v B games Dublin are having – the B team desperate to impress and driving into the A team like their lives depended on it. One or two of them are sure to be rewarded for their effort with a starting place for an All-Ireland final.
I remember our A v B games with Laois when we were going well. They were usually awful. The A team used to hammer the B team on a regular basis. We had a very good squad so there shouldn’t have been such a gap between the teams. In 2003 I tore my hamstring in the first round of the Leinster championship and only got back into contention for a starting spot for the Leinster final.
I was wing forward on the B team and was annoyed that the team weren’t really trying. I wanted to impress, I wanted to get back on the team. When I complained I was told by another player, “it doesn’t matter what we do, Micko doesn’t change a winning team. What’s the point?”
I hadn’t noticed it before because I’d been on the A team. The B team was demoralised because even if someone was playing out of their skin it made no difference.
Not surprisingly I didn’t make the Leinster final team, Micko stuck with the same team that beat Dublin in the semi-final, no matter how certain individuals played in that game.
Now both Jim Gavin – and Brian Cody for a lot of his management career – have had the luxury of replacing one starter with another of equal quality so that makes their job that bit easier. That being said there is a huge skill in rotating these players and keeping everyone happy.
The Dublin team that faced Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final showed four changes to the side that beat the Kingdom in last year’s All-Ireland final. Two of those changes were enforced with Jack McCaffrey and Rory O’Carroll unavailable, so it’s not as if Gavin has freshened his team up too much.
What keeps them motivated is the fear of being taken off. So far this year big names like Cian O’Sullivan, Bernard Brogan, Johnny Cooper, Dean Rock, Paul Flynn, Diarmuid Connolly and Michael Darragh MacAuley have all been withdrawn for different reasons.
On most teams you have the untouchables, a group of six or seven players that are never taken off, no matter what. The panel generally accepts this and normally and are okay with it. Usually they have earned their untouchable status through their performances for the team.
They are the leaders, the men that dig the team out of a hole when things are slipping away. However, these lads are not beyond having the odd bad day at the office. When that happens, on most teams, they are allowed time to play through it, but it can have a negative impact on the team if they don’t.
Dublin don’t have untouchables, that’s what makes them great. The closest players they have to untouchables are James McCarthy, Cian O’Sullivan, Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton, Diarmuid Connolly and Philly McMahon… and they have all been withdrawn under Jim Gavin in Championship football.
One huge beneficiary of Gavin’s selection policy is Kevin McManamon. The perennial ‘super sub’ has shaken off that unwanted image and started every game this year. Against Donegal and Kerry he was outstanding and one more good performance and he’s a shoo-in for an All-Star. I love an underdog and McManamon is one. He’s a fighter. He never drops his head and is the ultimate team guy. For many years if he played three good games and one bad one he would get harshly dropped for the bad one, but he never complained.
He was probably a bit too one dimensional in previous years. Pat Gilroy improved Bernard Brogan’s game by teaching him to become a provider. Maybe it’s Jason Sherlock’s influence, but McManamon doesn’t take his man on every time now, he has variety. More layoffs and point-kicking gives him the element of surprise when he puts the head down and goes at his man. Too many defenders make the mistake of getting too close to him. He loves that – he’s so strong he’ll swat you away. The way to mark McManamon is to shadow him and avoid contact at all costs.
Mayo do have their untouchables – I wouldn’t expect any of Lee Keegan, Keith Higgins, Aidan O’Shea, Cillian O’Connor, Diarmuid O’Connor or Kevin McLoughlin to be withdrawn on Sunday, no matter what. Those lads don’t need to worry about their place on the team to motivate themselves. They have a different motivation; it’s even an obsession – to bring Sam Maguire back to Mayo for the first time since 1951.
The smart money is on Dublin but because I love an underdog I’m going for Mayo. I really hope they can finally get over the line. It’s the year of the underdog anyway – Leicester City, Connacht, Portugal, Tipperary footballers and Kilkenny camogie have all won against the odds so why can’t Mayo.
If Mayo don’t do it, the fear of losing their place will drive this Dublin team on and they could dominate the game just like Kilkenny.
The GAA Hour took their show on the road to Castlebar to preview the All-Ireland final with Colm Parkinson, James Horan and some very special guests.
