Brogan keen to click back into gear against Tyrone

THERE have been some lifestyle changes for Bernard Brogan over the last while.

He used to share a house with Dublin team-mates Stephen Cluxton, Eamonn Fennell and Ross O’Connell. That’s no longer the case. Obvious reasons. Mad. House.

“We decided to put that house to rest,” he smiled. “It’s a chapter in our lives we opened and have now closed. We’ve moved on.”

With accountancy finals at the end of the month, the quieter his surroundings the better.

He’s still living young, though. Take his motorbike, for instance. Although, he’s been advised to be extra vigilant on it since his former team-mate turned Dublin hurler Conal Keaney damaged his knee on his motorcycle last month.

“I’ve got several warnings about it since Conal’s accident. It can be dangerous because you have to be aware of the people around you more than what you’re doing.

“I use it going to work (in the city centre). Getting through the traffic in the morning and evenings, it’s a real help. But I try to be as safe as possible. If I was on the bus it would take me an hour in and an hour out. It gives me an extra 45 minutes sleep and I don’t want to lose that.”

The right preparation is particularly key for Brogan this week as he prepares to move on from a not-so fantastic personal Leinster campaign.

Naturally, he’s been judged on his stellar 2010 season when he picked up the Footballer of the Year award but he knows things haven’t been great.

Subbed in the final against Wexford, he uncharacteristically kicked nine shots either wide or short.

“It was just one of those days,” he shrugged. “I got loads of ball and put myself in good opportunities to score, which I was happy about. But my kicking boots weren’t on. Any of the lads will say it to you, some days it just doesn’t happen for you. But it’s a good sign when a team is not playing at its best and it can still come through to win. We just have had to get back to basics.”

He spoke to his father and former Dublin star midfielder Bernard about the dip. His message was the same as manager Pat Gilroy’s — carry on regardless.

“There was no cause for any major panic. He just told me to keep doing what I have been doing and not to think too much about it and I haven’t. Pat said the same — don’t stop shooting. Hopefully things will fall into place Saturday.”

Just as Brogan’s form has shown a little dip, his older brother Alan has been playing brilliant football, picking up TV man of the match awards for all three of Dublin’s Leinster games.

“It’s all well deserved,” said Brogan. “He’s been dragging us through games when we haven’t been firing on all cylinders. He’s doing what he’s been doing for the last 10 years, winning ball, linking play and chipping with scores.

“It’s great to have him when he’s at his best. When he’s like that he’s hard to stop.

“We need a man like that to lead us and his confidence is high. It gives a gee-up to the rest of us.”

There’s been a little sibling rivalry, though. Before the Leinster final, Alan suggested he was getting the plaudits because Bernard “hadn’t been scoring” and “maybe I’ve taken the shine off him”.

Brogan himself remarked on Twitter that Paul Flynn was his man of the match in the win over Wexford although RTÉ gave it to his brother.

Asked how he feels about the ribbing from Alan, the Oliver St Plunketts Eoghan-Ruadh man responded: “I’ll be the first man to give credit where credit is due. I’m not playing up to the standard I want and he’s doing what he does best.

“There’s no major slagging. If he wins the player of the year maybe then there’ll be a bit of banter but there’s a lot of football to be played yet!”

Not for one second is Brogan saying the unconvincing win over Wexford was a blessing in disguise but he’s been on Dublin teams that have pulverised the opposition in Leinster finals only to be brought down to earth in the last-eight.

“We went through all the hype of winning Leinsters in a canter and it didn’t work for us.

“One minute we were champions, the next we’d land on our arses in the quarter-finals.

“They’ve brought us back to reality with a bang a few times. Teams coming through the qualifiers have momentum and we know it’s going to be difficult. You’ve to give respect to the team you face. We’re going to keep doing what we’re doing. We’re not thinking we’re world beaters. We have got to go out and earn it.”

The extra week’s break to the quarter-final brings back memories of 2008 when Tyrone embarrassed Dublin by 12 points. But Brogan insists the panel are in a better place than they were back then.

“We were all geared up for playing last weekend. But we had a chat about it and just repeated the week’s training from the week before. Footballers wants to play every week but it gives the management the chance to get a good look at the opposition. The difference between 2008 and now is the training matches are like qualifiers, the A v B games. What we hadn’t been bringing to games before, that bite is there now.

“We’re in a much better place. Playing the B team is like playing a different county. There’ve been spits and spats and fighting and you have to have that intensity. There’s no love lost and we feel like we have had games under us.”

Brogan also appreciates Tyrone will be out to do a job after defeat in last year’s corresponding fixture.

“They’re a class football team, three-time champions with guile and experience. People have been writing them off but that won’t be happening in our camp. They have that extra bite after we beat them last year but it’s going to come down to who’s willing to die for the ball more in the middle.”