O’Carroll talks up Rhode threat

THE mind games have begun.

Ross O’Carroll has questioned his club Kilmacud Crokes’ favourites tag ahead of their rescheduled AIB Leinster SFC final against Rhode in Portlaoise on Sunday.

The 2008 All-Ireland Club champions are 4/9 to repeat their 2008 final win over the Offaly representatives available at 5/2. However, dual player O’Carroll believes the initiative will be with Crokes’ opponents when the teams finally face-off at O’Moore Park.

“Rhode are going to present a serious challenge and anyone who knows their club football puts them as favourites,” said O’Carroll.

O’Carroll is of the belief Rhode should have won the clubs’ provincial final three years ago when the Dublin team were reduced to 14 men in the first-half after Cian O’Sullivan was shown a red card. Crokes trailed by six points at the break.

However, with O’Carroll doing an expert marshalling job on Niall McNamee and second-half goals coming from Mark Davoren and Brian Kavanagh, Crokes pulled off a victory that surely still sticks in the Rhode gut.

“We have been lucky. Three years ago, they probably should have won it — let’s face it. But we caught them at the death,” he acknowledged.

O’Carroll believes there’s an unfair perception of Crokes outside Dublin as a super-club — even though the Stillorgan outfit have won four of the last seven county senior championships.

However, O’Carroll does acknowledge Crokes’ chances of claiming a fourth Leinster title have been boosted by the availability of the previously suspended Adrian Morrissey. The defender would have been ruled out of the game after picking up a four-week ban for a sending off in a league game against Erin’s Isle last November.

Crokes had unsuccessfully appealed it before the inclement pre-Christmas weather played into their hands.

O’Carroll is seen as a ready-made replacement for his younger brother Rory, who had an excellent debut senior season at full-back for Dublin but will be unavailable for the NFL and possibly the start of the championship due to study commitments in France.

The pair of them could have featured in the full-back line for Pat Gilroy in 2010 but for Ross’ back injury, which ruled him out for six months. The nerve problem still affects him and he has certainly dismissed the possibility of playing for both Gilroy and Anthony Daly this season.

“I don’t think it is possible,’’ O’Carroll admitted.

As much as he is fancied to come into the Dublin set-up as soon as his interests with Crokes are over and done with, he feels he had plenty more to do to return to the form that saw him named for Dublin’s opening NFL game against Kerry before a quad strain forced him to cry off.

“I’ve a lot more to prove to get to that stage again,” he admitted.

“It would be great to get into the Dublin team but, to be honest, I haven’t really looked at it. There’s serious competition at Crokes at the moment and that’s what you’d be looking at. If you play well with Crokes maybe there is a chance you’ll get on the Dublin team but nobody is too worried about that as long as were still involved (in the championship).”