Brogan: second is not enough
Pat Gilroy has chopped and changed his starting side all spring in an attempt to unearth new faces that could challenge for places in what has been a remarkably settled team in recent seasons.
With that in mind, a season of consolidation would hardly be a disaster for the county, even if it is waiting since 1995 for another All-Ireland title or even a place in the final, but Brogan begs to differ.
“Come the championship it’ll more or less be the guts of the team that was out over the last few years.
“Dublin have been moving well for the past four or five years and we’ve been knocking on the door.
“The management might say they’ll be happy with a good run in the championship but, as a player, and I have been around for a while now, we want the All-Ireland.
“That’s the only success we want. We won’t be happy with anything else.”
Many a theory has been launched as to why the ultimate prize continues to elude Dublin. Poor league form, insufficient scoring forwards and inconsistency are just three but the Leinster Championship has been blamed too.
Dublin have claimed the last four provincial titles but have gone on to disappoint in the wider arena each and every time after what some have perceived as a lack of sufficient competition within Leinster.
With Meath first up in the championship in early June, one line of thinking has it that Dublin, who would hardly be bowled over at winning another provincial crown, would be better served coming through the back door this season.
Said Brogan: “I’ve heard people say that we have struggled because of the standard of Leinster football.
“I don’t think that’s the case. Leinster is just as strong as any other province.
“I don’t know is it nerves when we come up against the likes of Kerry and Tyrone, who have been stalwarts of the GAA over the last few years, but I don’t think it’s anything to do with a lack of class in Leinster.
“We’re not going to sit back and try to go through the back door. Obviously, if you lose there’s a second chance and teams have shown it isn’t the end of the road but we will go out to win every game with our strongest team.”
Whatever about the realities of Dublin’s GAA health, Meath have not offered much to suggest that they are capable of mirroring their summer from two years back when they made it to an All-Ireland semi-final.
Derbies have a consistent knack of confounding expectations however and it would be no surprise if Meath shed their mediocre Division Two form for a fixture that has seldom failed to invigorate them in the past.
“There has been rivalry going back years. Over the past few years Meath maybe haven’t been as good as in the past, but they’re coming on strong.
“They are moving well this year and they’re coming back to their best. Any time they play Dublin they always fight that bit harder. There’s never much in a Dublin-Meath game.”
