The End of the Empire

Jim Gavin’s men may be targeting yet more glory but success is not necessarily a given

A few years ago, there was a story doing the rounds about a friend of a friend’s elderly mother. On a shopping trip to New York, she returned to her Manhattan hotel and took the lift from the lobby, squeezing in beside four particularly tall gentlemen. The lift got stuck, the Irish woman became edgy, a little intimidated by her company. Sensing her unease, the men broke the ice with conversation and jokes. Days later, when it was time to check out, the Irish mammy was informed at reception that her bill was taken care of by — you’ve guessed it — one of the tall men from the lift. The man’s name? Will Smith.

It’s a nice story and soon after an almost identical tale emerged, different friend’s mother, different hotel, same Will Smith. By the time the fable was on it’s third lap, well, you wouldn’t have to be Jimmy McNulty to have smelled the forgotten nappy in the car. Either Will Smith was cruising Manhattan looking for vulnerable Irish mammies to help, or someone had just pitched a curve ball that Kenny Powers would have been proud of.

That story sprang to mind after a lengthy text about the Dublin footballers circulated recently.

The message purported to be from somebody who had attended a sports conference where one of the main speakers was a former member of the Dublin backroom team, the text detailing the transformation from the Dublin team of the noughties to the team we know now — their journey from pretenders to executioners.

Regardless of its authenticity it was a blueprint on the triumph of collective over individual, how the players pooled all the money made from endorsements and shared it among the group, the marquee players — some of whom could earn as much as €100,000 per year in today’s market — making the biggest sacrifice. It told of disciplinary pacts that no player, no matter his stature, was immune from. It detailed the fall of Pat Gilroy and the rise of the impenetrable Jim Gavin. If the account was true, then minuting such a detailed description is an act of sporting espionage of which Bill Belichick would be proud.

If it’s a “Will Smith in the lift” story, well, it still serves a purpose. If you woke up tomorrow to realise you were an inter-county manager, you could use this as your bible and still win a Connacht Championship. More than that, if, as a people we adopted the Dublin model, we would have a highly functional — albeit communist — society.

Now the world knows how the sausage is made, will Dublin be beaten in 2019? Everything ends. And, so must their dominance. Maybe Dr Jack McCaffrey will get involved in some hospital-based drama akin to a Grey’s Anatomy plot, like a year-long hostage situation, which will render him unavailable. Maybe Colm Basquel will tire of shooting 6-12 for Ballyboden without getting a chance at the big leagues and take his talents to the county of his father, Mayo. Maybe Gavin will fall asleep answering a question at a press conference, wake up and realise he is dead bored. Maybe, but chances are it will be more conventional than that. And here is why:

Human nature: The game needs Dublin to lose. This is grossly unfair on them, but it is human nature. It heaps pressure on officials, as well as the team. Such a situation has often galvanised an underdog but could fell a Goliath.

Kerry: If they can marry the attacking talent with the much-lauded Donie Buckley defence, Kerry could potentially match Mayo’s intensity in playing Dublin, but with added offensive élan. Strange times that the public may long for a resurgent Kerry to topple the empire.

The Mayo angle: Just as the game desperately needs Dublin to lose, it needs a Mayo win. James Horan’s return did not bring the rock star backroom team many hoped (Kieran MacDonald on skills, Jordan Peterson on psychology and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on the physical was perhaps hoping for too much), but Horan is back to guide the monsters he created. Many believed this group of players thought themselves bigger than the previous management team, and even if this is true, it won’t wash with Horan. They will be older, sure, but fresher and hungrier. Watch them target the league and lay down a marker.

The Rochford file: Stephen Rochford’s move to Donegal will bring with it the corporate knowledge of how best to rattle Dublin. Being one remove from management will free him up to assist them tactically. If they can keep the Gweedore lads out of Teach Mhicí, they may regain the muscle memory of how to compete in August.

Rule changes: Few sports have ever addressed the dominance of a team with such drastic measures. It feeds the narrative that the administration needs a a new champion more than it needs a Dublin five in a row.

Jim Gavin’s reluctance to admit he needs Diarmuid Connolly: It started off like Wuthering Heights, it is ending up like Kramer vs Kramer. Gavin may say the door is open, but you know any return for Connolly would be heavily caveated. If the Dubs are as committed to their code of excellence as “the text” would have us believe, it may see Connolly’s exile continue. Some bad performances will only highlight ignoring such a generational talent.

Everything ends. And so it will with Dublin. The money says this will continue for some years yet but there’s plenty of reason to believe that 2019 will be the year the capital crumbles.

Published by The Times