League win means Dublin have Cork on the back foot already, says Bryan Cullen

Former All-Ireland winning captain Bryan Cullen believes Dublin have gained a significant psychological edge on Cork ahead of any potential Championship meeting.

Dublin swept to an 11-point Allianz league final win over Cork last weekend, sealing their third title success in a row.

Allied to last year’s league semi-final tie when Dublin came from 10 points down to win by seven, it means Jim Gavin’s side have outscored Cork by 28 points over less than a game and a half of football.

Cullen believes it will take Cork some time to get over their latest setback and said the psychological marker laid down by Dublin could prove very useful to them if the teams meet again in the All-Ireland series.

“Last year it was a 10-point deficit that Dublin came back from to win by seven, overall that’s two big wins Dublin have had over Cork now in Croke Park,” said Cullen.

“They’re going to be hard to recover from for Cork. It will certainly be to Dublin’s advantage if they meet later in summer.”

Cullen suggested that Cork should have taken a more defensive approach to last weekend’s game. Dublin were held to a draw by Tyrone in the group stage of the campaign at Croke Park while Derry restricted them to just eight points. Both counties took a leaf out of Donegal’s defensive game plan from last August.

“I’m surprised teams are still trying to go toe-to-toe with Dublin because any team that has, has failed,” continued Cullen. “The only teams that have caused Dublin trouble are the ones who have set themselves up to try and hit Dublin on the break.

“I think we’ll see a lot more of that during the summer. Maybe teams are holding back, not showing their full hand until they have to.

“But I think any team that gives Dublin forwards space and time, they’re going to suffer.”

Asked if he believes Kerry will go toe-to-toe with Dublin should they meet again in the Championship, Cullen suggested they won’t.

“I would expect Kerry to play the same style of football that brought them success last year. I wouldn’t say they’ll veer too far from that.

“The thing about Kerry is, if they do continue that organised structured set-up, they’re going to be hard to break down. They can hit you on the break as well.

“Kerry are All-Ireland champions. Now Dublin have got an awful lot of praise having gone three-in-a-row in the league but Kerry will be quite happy to go under the radar again and let Dublin get all the press.”

Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the Eirgrid All-Ireland U21 football final, Cullen said he can see Dublin retaining their Leinster senior title easily.

“I think Dublin will come through Leinster at a canter. It’s very hard for me to judge where they are really. For me, they are in the exact same position as they were last year.

“They’ve come through the league soundly and won the final well. The big test for Dublin is going to come when they come up against a Donegal, a Tyrone or a Monaghan in the quarter- or semi-final stage.”