Brogan: Wexford fright can spark some Dubs fight

In midst of a transition and rebuild, Dessie Farrell's team will benefit from a spirited and hostile welcome on Saturday

More of the same stuff: Dublin's Ciaran Kilkenny  battles with Wexford's Michael Furlong during last year's meeting between the sides at Wexford Park. Photo: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Alan Brogan reckons another Wexford Park fright could be just what Dublin need when they begin the defence of their Leinster SFC.

Dessie Farrell's side, fresh off relegation to Division 2 of the National League, will travel south tomorrow evening for a repeat of the 2021 provincial opener.

Wexford were surprisingly competitive on that occasion and while former captain Brogan believes that Dublin will ultimately win again on their travels, he's hopeful for a tight game which will stand to the team during the current period of transition and rebuilding.

"When you go to these grounds with home crowds and all that stuff, you need to see a bit of fight from Dublin," said Brogan. "You go into Croke Park and you can play a bit more football, there's a bit more space and you can play the football you want to play.

"But down in Wexford Park, they're going to see an opportunity, they'll see it as an outside chance and will be saying, 'Let's give it a good crack for 40 or 45 minutes and see if we can stay close to Dublin, maybe have them rattled for the last 15'.

"I think Dublin are going to have to show a certain amount of grit and fight to get through it and I think that's what brings a team closer together, when you have to go into the trenches with each other and you have to dig it out.

"That's the best thing Dublin could get out of it. A 20-point win for Dublin at the weekend, I don't think that would be any use to them. A tight enough game where Dublin have to fight hard and rely on each other to dig themselves out, that would go a lot longer and help the lads a lot more than a big win."

Eager to go: Former Dublin footballer Alan Brogan at the Sport Ireland Campus 'Here We Go' launch at Sports Ireland Campus in Dublin. Photo: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Brogan reckons there's an acceptance among Dublin football supporters that 'a couple of quiet years' are on the horizon for the county.

Boss Dessie Farrell used 34 different players in all during that league campaign, the second highest level of experimentation in Division 1 behind Mayo, who used 36.

"I think there's an acceptance that there has to be a bit of a rebuilding job," said Brogan. "Every great sports team goes through cycles of where you need to rebuild and Jim (Gavin) did that so well every year, he was bringing one or two guys through all along.

"If there's a criticism of Dessie, it's maybe that he hasn't managed to get those guys through, whether that's his fault or it's coincidental with the players coming through from underage (not being good enough)....like, if you look at underage, Dublin haven't been that successful over the last number of years so yeah, there's a sense of realism among Dublin people that we've had it so good for a number of years and we just have to accept that there might be a couple of quiet years where Dessie has to rebuild, and he'll be given time to do that."

*Alan Brogan was speaking at the Sport Ireland Campus 'Here We Go' launch, a campaign designed to raise national awareness and pride in the world class facilities at the Sport Ireland Campus and to encourage everyone to take the opportunity to experience the home of Irish sport.