Brogan taking it all in in his stride

WHAT a difference a year makes. Tomorrow afternoon, Alan Brogan will line out for Dublin, not exactly a senior member of the team, but certainly as a young man with an inordinate amount of responsibility on his young shoulders.

Still only 21, Brogan's seniority in Dublin's first 15 has moved up the ladder with the infusion of new blood by Tommy Lyons. Liam Óg Ó hEineachain, Paul Griffin, Brian Cullen and Tommy Mulligan are all Brogan's juniors in experience if not years.

"A few lads have been added to the panel from the U21s. A few of them came on against Louth and it was a bit worrying for me because they all played very well," Brogan said.

Strangely too, with a game or part of one at least after his run-in with a goalpost in the first-half against Louth already under his belt in this year's championship, nobody seems to have mentioned the dreaded second season syndrome yet.

For the Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh corner-forward, it's all about taking it in his stride. "I presume I'll be marked tighter than I was last year," Brogan said. "Last year I was a bit of a surprise element. I didn't get a lot of chances last time out against Louth but hopefully it will go all right again this year."

After the challenge match atmosphere of the Louth game, Dublin should face a far stiffer test against Laois tomorrow and for Brogan, that means a head-to-head with Joe Higgins, one of Mick O'Dwyer's most impressive performers.

"They've a very strong forward line with a lot of lads who were on the minor and underage teams of a few years ago. It is coming together for them," he says.

No disrespect to Laois, but Brogan has been dealing with expectation all his life and it's easy to get the feeling that this Leinster semi-final is just another step along the road he's always expected to follow.

When Bernard Brogan is your father and Jim Brogan your uncle, great things will be expected of you when you don a Dublin jersey and young Alan hasn't disappointed so far. His role alongside the red-hot Ray Cosgrove for the seniors last year is well documented, but he also played a captain's role for Tommy Lyons' U21 Leinster-winning side.

Ultimately, Brogan's dual attack on the national silverware ended in disappointment with losses to Armagh and then Galway in the U21 final.

Younger Brogan Bernard is now on the county junior panel and, guess what he's a corner-forward too. The jokes are flying about that his time is running out if he wants to get his hands on the Sam Maguire.

"Yeah, there's been a lot of jokes going about who's the best of the Brogans," he says. "It's a bit of crack at the end of the day," he says.

Whatever about the Sam Maguire, many are saying another Leinster title is ready and waiting for Dublin to collect, with the widely-held view that the standard in the province isn't what it should be or what it was. Brogan, naturally enough, would beg to differ.

"I wouldn't say that with the likes of Meath around. We're not prepared to think like that. You never know what Meath can do," he answers. But then he remembers one other team stands in their way. That's forgivable though, Meath will always loom largest to a true blue Dub.

"Meath are always dangerous and now we have Laois as well. They're the in-form team in the country over the last six months," he says.

Whatever the outcome tomorrow, it promises to be an unusual day down Jones' Road. With Hill 16 standing idle due to preparations for the Special Olympics, Brogan's side have lost their fondest ally and those who quietly fancy Laois to spring a surprise seem to add even greater significance to the loss of Dublin's Kop. Not Brogan, though. Not much anyway.

"It'll be strange without the Hill all right, but I've heard talk that they might all go to the Canal. Maybe we'll have Hill 16 at the Canal End. It's a football match when all is said and done," he said.

Spoken like a true veteran.