O’Callaghan relishes test of Dublin’s progress in Thurles

Getting themselves back on track was the main challenge facing the Dublin hurlers after their relegation from the top tier in the Allianz Hurling League last year.

“The objective this year was to get promotion and bounce back straight away,” said inside-forward David ‘Dotsy’ O’Callaghan in Semple Stadium yesterday; “We’re just delighted to have achieved that so far. It’s a great opportunity now to go down to Thurles on Sunday and take on Tipperary, who are in great form, a test to see exactly where we’re at.”

Dublin recently defeated Limerick in the Division 1B promotion final and the game against Tipperary, a league semi-final, is added reward for that win. It gives Dublin an early opportunity to regain the title they so spectacularly won in 2011 when they defeated Kilkenny in the final (0-22 to 1-7), then equally spectacularly lost last year, the first side to be relegated as reigning league champions.

“After the successful year we had, maybe we got carried away a bit and started to think things might just happen without putting in the hard work,” said O’Callaghan. “Mentally, lads were maybe thinking about getting to All-Ireland finals and going a step further than the year before. I don’t think we were shying away from any of the work on the field or anything but it could be that, psychologically, we were drifting away from what is required at this level because if you’re even just a couple of per cent off, any team will beat you.”

Tipperary apart — with whom they drew — every team did beat Dublin in last year’s league, albeit by the narrowest of margins in most cases. O’Callaghan himself suffered a year to forget, losing his father Paddy to illness. He also missed out on the early rounds of the league due to a debilitating bout of pneumonia.

“It was a disappointing year all round for myself. I’m just enjoying it again now and that’s a big thing with me. We have a great squad and we have a great management team, everything is in place for us to go out and perform.”

One new face in the management team is trainer Ross Dunphy, whom manager Anthony Daly has already praised for his input. Rightly so, says O’Callaghan.

He said: “Ross is an expert in his field. He has us well prepared, in good shape. This is a great test to see where we are.”

A test yes, ambitions unchanged but tempered now by the experience of 2012. “Ultimately you have your dreams, as any inter-county player would, but what happened last year just focuses the mind,” he added.