Dub star Carroll plays down great expectations

DUBLIN full-back Rory O’Carroll has played down his chances of repeating his excellent debut senior season in 2011.

The Kilmacud Crokes man, who was nominated for an All Star as well as picking up the U21 Footballer of the Year award, was a colossus for Pat Gilroy at the edge of the square.

However, with study commitments in France ruling him out of the National League and compromising his chances of contributing to his club’s Leinster final hopes, the 21-year-old has warned he’s not expecting himself to reach the heights of 2010.

“I’ll be back at the beginning of May. Basically I will just try and get my fitness back — go back training with the team but the championship is early June so I can’t see myself being back (at full tilt) until a good while after that.”

O’Carroll has also poured cold water over Dublin’s All-Ireland chances, saying some of their younger players like himself will no longer benefit from being surprise packages.

“If we were going to win anything it was last season,” he said at AIB’s Club Is Family promotion for next month’s Leinster final. “This year coming, it is only going to get harder, especially because people know the way we are playing. The second season syndrome is coming in.

“There are a lot of new players but the freshness has crept out of that a bit so it will only get tougher.”

However, he feels Dublin can be cuter in 2011. The All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Cork showed up their naivety in the closing stages.

“The last few minutes myself and Mick Fitz(simons), a few of us gave away frees. It’s unfortunate, when you get tired your concentration slips and when you are in an All-Ireland semi-final and up by two points, you can’t afford to do that.”

O’Carroll will fly back for the AIB Leinster club final against Offaly champions Rhode on January 23 but does not anticipate he will start, figuring he will get “10 minutes at best”.

“I chatted to (manager) Paddy Carr about it,” he said. “I will travel back and tog out but my fitness is fairly bad.

“It’s a rural town (where O’Carroll is based, close to the city of Orleans) so the only place to run is by the river so there is not much I can do, it is not the same as training with the team.”

O’Carroll admits the twice-postponed final’s delay has been a blessing for the suspended Adrian Morrissey who will now be free to play on January 23.

However, there are some in the panel who are not so fortunate.

As he revealed: “We do have Adrian Morrissey back although we are still missing Niall Corkery, Darren Magee and Paul Griffin. If we make it (to the All-Ireland semi-final) Paul could be back by the end of January. Darren doesn’t know when he will be back. It could be April. Niall Corkery is living over in London and he has to work three out of every four Sundays so he is working like a mad man over there.

“At least I know I will come back in May and can start building myself up again but Niall is there for the foreseeable future. He’s got a permanent job so he will be there for the next while.”

Meanwhile the new GAA season is still a couple of weeks away but Galway hurlers have already had to make four changes to a 37-man squad announced less than a month ago.

John McIntyre and his selectors carried out major alterations to the 2010 group with up to a dozen changes when the panel for the new season was announced at the end of November.

Long-term ankle injuries have ruled out skipper Shane Kavanagh and 2009 All-Ireland minor winning captain Richie Cummins and now it has been confirmed that two other players have been released from the squad.

Forward Bernard Burke, one of six members of the U21 side promoted to the senior squad last month, has been released due to study commitments in Waterford.

And goalkeeper James Skehill has also been released from the squad, with Athenry custodian John Grealish called up.

Galway will begin their competitive campaign when they will put their Walsh Cup title on the line when they take on Carlow or Dublin Institute of Technology on January 23, with the Galway management set to reduce their squad in the spring.

“It is our intention to cut the panel to 32 or 33 by the end of February, so it is up to everyone to make the most of this opportunity and show themselves in the best possible light before we begin that process,” said McIntyre.