Future looks bright and blue for Dubs

The empire strikes back.

But then, we knew it would. Didn’t we?

Thirteen months after relinquishing their All-Ireland title to Donegal, Dublin are again Gaelic football’s most imperious of storm troopers.

Long a county with a gilded past, they are now being viewed as one which will dictate the entire game’s future.

The Super Dubs. Just how super they can be remains to be seen but the statistics are frightening to those from beyond the Pale and especially those who may find themselves habitually wedded to a bent of pessimistic proportions.

Yesterday’s victory over Mayo, unappealing to the eye as it may have been, marked the first time since Dublin — and Kerry — rebranded football in the 1970s that they have managed to claim the Sam Maguire twice inside the one decade.

This is the county with the enormous population, the county that has won 10 of the last 15 Leinster titles at the three grades and the county that has won five All-Ireland titles over those levels in the last four seasons.

But it’s more than that. It is the six of the last 10 Leinster club titles which four of their clubs have brought back to the capital, the two All-Ireland titles to boot and the knowledge that their support structures are second to none.

Dublin’s footballers enjoy the best strength and conditioning, the benefits of the latest sports science and the sort of sponsorship revenue that every one of the other 31 counties in Ireland could hardly even dream of. This was the last time that we will see the Dubs sport the Vodafone logo on their shirts but yesterday’s events will go a long way to ensuring that they secure a new backer of similar stature even in these straitened times.

If that all amounts to the majority of the iceberg, that part that lurks unseen underneath the waves, then the tip also offers a pretty stark warning to those of a mind to challenge the notion that the Dubs are unlikely to dominate.

The 15 who started against Mayo boast an average age of just 24.8, a ridiculously low number for a side that has already conquered the snow-covered peaks of Everest.

Only one is in his 30s — 31 year-old Stephen Cluxton.

The bulk of this side are established players, some of them All Stars, and born no earlier than the mid-1980s. Then look at Jack McCaffrey. 19. Or Ciaran Kilkenny and Paul Mannion. Both of them 20. It’s frightening.

“They are around 12, the lads who came in this year,” laughed Paul Flynn. “They have about 12 years left and there are some classy footballers to come as well, I tell you, but maybe we’ll just celebrate this one first.”

There is a perspective to be kept here, a realisation that we should not offer our obedience in perpetuity to a king whose coronation is so fresh in the memory.

Donegal are proof of that.

There are those within the capital who insist estimates of their playing population are outlandishly overblown and skewed by the presence of so many culchies, rivals codes and other interests.

Others will point to the progress made by their hurling colleagues, men who hail from the same streets and call the same dressing rooms home, as the principal threat to a decade of dominance for these particular boys in blue.

Jim Gavin wouldn’t be so undiplomatic as to call Anthony Daly’s hurlers the enemy within but he did come out to bat against the notion that the prospect of a Dublin dictatorship in football should resurrect talk of a divide along the banks of the Liffey.

“No guarantees,” he insisted. “Just look at the U21 campaign this year. Kildare look very strong, Longford look strong, Carlow look very strong. It’s great for Leinster. There’s a lot of good work being done, I see it myself.

“The most important thing is that kids are playing sport. The GAA has a big job on its hands trying to claim the hearts and minds of kids in Dublin.

“You have the culture as well, there’s lots of outdoor activities that kids can get into.

“So there is no dominance by any one county in Gaelic games. Kerry had their dominance and Tyrone had theirs and I don’t remember anyone asking for their counties to be split.

“We’ve won this year but the minute the referee blows the final whistle, that’s when the 2013 season ends. I know from speaking to other managers, they’re already setting themselves up for the 2014 championship.

“We’re probably behind now already.”

Who is he kidding?