It was a great year for Dublin.
It’s three in a row now for Jim Gavin’s side and if 2017 proved anything about Dublin it was just how difficult it has become to force your way into the starting line up.
Just look at some of the substitutes for the All-Ireland final
- Diarmuid Connolly – Two-time All-Star
- Bernard Brogan – Four-time All-Star; One-time Player of the Year
- Michael Darragh MacAuley – Two-time All-Star; One-time Player of the Year
- Paul Flynn – Four-time All-Star
That’s not even including the talented Cormac Costello and Niall Scully. Dublin’s forward line boasts the likes of Paul Mannion, the likes of Dean Rock and the likes of Con O’Callaghan. It’s no wonder it’s game time is so hard to come by.
Bernard Brogan didn’t get a look in this year. He started none of the championship games on their road to lifting the Sam Maguire.
The incredible Bernard Brogan stat that shows just how easy Dublin have gotten it for too long | SportsJOE.ie https://t.co/QGPSGJLRLQ
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But Brgoan has confirmed his decision to stay plugging away next year, to stay attempting to make it into that team.
Speaking on the GAA Hour, Conor Heneghan broke down what it might mean that Brogan has decided to come back into the fray.
“It was interesting what (Bernard Brogan) said, because there is so much competition in Dublin.
“I think a lot of forwards unless you’re Diarmuid Connolly or one of the established lads in the full forward line, you have to be kind of content with half an hour here or 40 minutes there but he said he’s better when he gets a continued run of games,” Heneghan noted.
Brogan got off to a slow start this year after suffering injuries throughout the league campaign and never got the momentum to kick on to a good year.
“He got a few injuries in the league this year so he was only getting little bits here and there so I would imagine that if he was happy with what Jim Gavin told him.
“I’d say Jim Gavin indicated, that as long as he’s fit , he’ll get an established run in the league next year.
“If he gets that and Bernard Brogan thinks that’s when he’s best don’t rule it out for him having a big championship in 2018.
“He said that throughout the year he wasn’t sure what he was going to do and then after having a conversation with Jim Gavin that he’s happy enough to stay on.”
“I’m not saying Jim Gavin told him that he’s going to start every game in the league but I’d say he gave him a fairly decent guarantee that if you’re fit we’ll give you plenty of game time during the league which he probably didn’t get this year and then he wasn’t starting in the championship as a result and had to make an impact from the bench which he’ll always prefer, as most forwards will, to start and make an impact there.”
Brogan is one of the most blatant confidence players in the business. Give him a run of games and he could be lethal. Don’t let his age define him.
Admitting that he needs to shake off a few injuries, you wouldn’t put it past Brogan to come back and force his way into the starting line.
