Seán Cavanagh: Dublin can rule decade
Cavanagh retired from inter-county football after Tyrone’s heavy All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin at Croke Park last month.
It brought an end to one of the game’s great careers though the three-time All-Ireland winner, and 2008 Player of the Year, said he’s never witnessed anything quite like this Dublin team.
He described the back-to-back champions as the greatest side he’s ever played against and predicted that they will beat Mayo “comfortably” in Sunday week’s final.
Tyrone hadn’t played a Jim Gavin managed Dublin team in the Championship and Cavanagh said he suspected they were overrated until he actually came up against them.
Then he changed his tune and nodded enthusiastically to the suggestion they could become the first county to win five All-Irelands on the trot.
“Big time, I think they could possibly win eight out of 10,” said Cavanagh, eyeing the period from 2011 to 2020. “It was their whole system of play, their whole machine that impressed me most. Jim Gavin is a very meticulous man. I fear for the rest of the teams.
“I’m not sure that if Dublin continue on this curve that they’re on, the way they’re playing, the way they’re dominating Gaelic football, who can compete. I fear most teams are going to really struggle. The GAA are going to struggle to create spectacles.”
Dublin won their first All-Ireland in 16 years in 2011 and have since added three more, meaning they have claimed four of the last six titles.
They have only lost one Championship game in almost five seasons under Gavin who has agreed to remain in charge until the end of 2019 at least.
Their big win over Tyrone, the back-to-back Ulster champions, has reignited the debate about whether Dublin should be split in two, to level the playing field.
“I know if that was being suggested for Tyrone, I would be laughing it out the door,” said Cavanagh.
“I don’t think that will work. I don’t think it’s a viable option. I have no idea how you stop it, that’s the reality.
“They’ve obviously got the numbers, they’ve got the resources, they’re on the crest of a wave, the commercialism, everything is all there for them.
“There’s a serious amount of catching up to be done, even from where we’re at in Tyrone. We felt we could catch them on a particular day but it wasn’t the case. I think Dublin are going to dominate for a while to come.”
Yet Cavanagh was convinced only weeks ago that Dublin weren’t all they were cracked up to be.
“Dublin surprised me,” he said. “I didn’t, prior to that match, buy into the hype that Dublin were that good.
“I felt that the way we played would be good enough to stop them. But they obviously attacked the wings, every one of their players were incredibly pacey, incredibly powerful, playing off the shoulder football.
“They had match-ups that worked. They had it all. I have to admit, they were the best team I’ve ever played against at inter-county level. They’re the best team I ever seen play the game.”
Mayo have consistently troubled Dublin and drew with them in both the 2015 and 2016 Championships. They’ve also lost one-point games to Dublin in 2013 and 2016 but Cavanagh doesn’t give them much of a chance this time.
“Mayo are going to have to bring some sort of an x-factor to beat Dublin, whether they go man for man or get Dublin embroiled in a row, they’re going to have to do something,” he said.
“They’re going to have to push Dublin to a different zone because the way they were against us, they were in cruise mode. And their best players were sitting on the bench.
“It’s amazing, you’re matching up against other counties and you know who you have to stop. I didn’t believe that some of Dublin’s lesser known players were as good as they were until you saw them in the flesh and witnessed the pace that they have and the skill that they have and the way they work as a unit.
“I believe they will beat Mayo fairly comfortably as well.”
The annual Volkswagen All-Ireland senior football sevens tournament will be hosted by the Kilmacud Crokes club on Saturday, September 16.
