No Earley return for league campaign

DERMOT EARLEY has admitted he may be forced to write off next year’s entire Allianz Football League campaign with Kildare.

The former All Star midfielder, 33, hasn’t played since the 2010 Championship due to a complicated recovery from a cruciate knee ligament injury. He had hoped to feature last summer but required a second operation on the injury and is only now back engaging in straight line running.

The 1998 All-Ireland finalist said the feeling of being on the cusp of a major silverware breakthrough with Kildare has sustained him throughout the recovery process and he’s willing to bide his time.

“I’m not going to rush back,” insisted Earley, an All Star midfielder in 2009.

“I’d love to say I will come back and play a few league games and if it feels good, I will hopefully do that. But nothing is guaranteed. Even if I get it right, nothing is guaranteed.”

Axed Cavan forward Seanie Johnstone was recently linked with a switch to Kildare. Perhaps more significant from Earley’s midfield perspective was the link with Carlow and Ireland midfielder Brendan Murphy.

Sarsfields man Earley said he ‘doubted’ if there was any truth in the rumours and is merely concentrating on getting himself back in a position to nail down his own starting spot again.

“It’s up to me to get Kieran McGeeney and the management team to pick me,” he continued at yesterday’s launch of Bord na Móna’s sponsorship of the O’Byrne and Walsh Cup pre-season tournaments in Leinster.

“You can’t go on past reputations. It’s about being able to perform and I’m conscious of that. That’s a big thing. If I’m mentally prepared for that I’ll be all right.”

Kilkenny hurling forward Eddie Brennan revealed at the launch that he too is currently in limbo about his 2012 plans. The high achieving forward was tipped by many to retire after winning his eighth All-Ireland medal but he remains undecided.

“It’s something that’s there in the background — will I or won’t I?” said Brennan.

“I have been thinking about it but, first and foremost, I have to sit down with Brian [Cody] to talk about it.

“You’d have a fair idea yourself about what lies ahead. This time last year, if we had won the five in a row I probably would have went.”

Brennan and his wife, Olivia, recently had a child, Harry, so his priorities have naturally shifted.

“I live in Portlaoise, which makes things a bit more difficult,” he said. “It’s decision time.”

Meanwhile, Leinster Council chief executive Michael Delaney has poured cold water on the notion of Dublin GAA gaining provincial status for the purposes of increased funding.

The proposal is contained in Dublin’s recently released strategic plan for 2011-2017, ‘The Blue Wave’.

“Dublin will always be a Leinster county and, okay, they made a very good case for getting more finance but they won’t become another province,” said Delaney. “Not in my time anyway. We have 12 counties and they’ll happily be one of ours.”

Delaney revealed he and the rest of Ireland’s provincial officials are currently meeting GAA chiefs to discuss ticket prices for 2012. The GAA cut e5 off its entry prices last June for Championship matches up to an including the All-Ireland semi-finals.