Philly McMahon's message for Dublin's rivals: Stop complaining about us and start competing

Decorated defender Philly McMahon has hit out at the culture of complaining about Dublin’s success and challenged their rivals to do their talking on the pitch.

In a statement that will frustrate Donegal in particular, following their recent failed bid to stop Dublin playing two Super 8s games at Croke Park, the six-time All-Ireland winner said it feels to him the mindset of many in the GAA is “if we have a team that’s successful, let’s complain”.

Dublin’s use of Croke Park for Allianz League games has also been questioned by critics along with the level of funding that the county receives and the giant population.

But in one of the most defiant responses yet from a Dublin player, McMahon challenged rival counties to stop complaining and to do what Dublin did in 2011 by winning an All-Ireland “the hard way”.

“I understand where it comes from, I understand that it’s just the way sport goes: If there’s a successful team there’s always people out there will look at ways to try change the success of whoever is successful,” said McMahon.

“I think it sends the wrong message out for the next generation. So what we’re saying is, ‘Right, if we have a team that’s successful, let’s complain. Let’s complain about the rules, let’s complain about money, let’s complain about the population,’ instead of saying, ‘Let’s actually beat them when they have all that.’

“And that needs to be the message. I don’t think you could go to any top team in this country and say to them, Which would you want to win — an All-Ireland that changes the rules, that complains about money and this, this, and this, or beat Dublin with all of these things?

“The person I am, I would like to win against all of this stuff. That’s a much better kind of sense of an All-Ireland than complaining.

“Go for it, if you think that’s a block to you winning an All-Ireland, then challenge it, go after it. Challenge the next generation to say, ‘Don’t complain about it, go after it, go and win it the hard way’.

“That’s the way we did it (in 2011), 16 years.”

Critics point out that Dublin GAA receives by far the highest coaching funding from Croke Park despite having their own commercial department and being in a position to strike lucrative sponsorship deals no other county can.

“I didn’t see all this money, I didn’t get any money,” said McMahon. “What money did I get from that, from the figures that have been going around? I got Paddy Christie coming to my school, taking me out of class, and telling me to come up and train in Poppintree Park. That’s what I got!

“And that’s how I got to play for Dublin. I think the message has to change. I understand that negative media sells but we are destroying the sport right now.

“If you look at the Airtricity League (of Ireland) now, at the start of the season they are talking about the social media campaign each of the clubs are putting in. The attendances are going up. The GAA is going to go the opposite way if we keep going this way in terms of the media, I think.”

Dublin have typically received praise for their attacking style under Jim Gavin, winning the last four All-Irelands, though other counties have been blamed for dumbing down the sport with crude blanket defending, prompting administrators to alter the rules. McMahon said the inherent message that football is broken is doing the game no favours either. “When does it get to the point when we just leave our sport the way it is and play with it?” he asked.

“I think the amount of rules we have changed over the last couple of seasons has just been... it’s frustrating for me as a player. Just let me play the sport because if we keep changing it, in 10 years’ time the sport is going to be completely different. Just let’s play Aussie Rules in 10 years’ time, you know?”

McMahon acknowledged that coaches and managers have a big role to play in improving the spectacle.

“I remember speaking to a player after a game, and then I spoke to their manager after the game, I won’t say who it was, but I remember saying to him, ‘Do you not think the lads would enjoy playing a different way? They play very defensive,’” said McMahon. “And he says, ‘This works for us.’ I says, ‘But you lost.’ He didn’t say much after that.”

McMahon, 31, hopes to feature in Dublin’s two remaining league games, against Tyrone and Cavan, after sitting out several months with a broken bone in his hand. “I played for Ballymun Kickhams at the weekend, it was the first game that I’ve played since the injury, so I’m fully back now,” he said.

“I broke a metacarpal in my hand, my third metacarpal sparring in the off-season, I hit someone’s elbow boxing.”