Dublin's blend of old and new 'rolling in the right direction' 

'At the start, we would have said it was a new group,' said Dublin captain Carla Rowe. 'But right now the team is just so cohesive.'

LEADING ROLE: Carla Rowe of Dublin at Croke Park. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

It's only two years since their last TG4 All-Ireland final appearance but when Dublin return to Croke Park on Sunday, their team will have changed by more than half.

Where to begin with the list of missing icons. There's no Lyndsey Davey for starters, the five-time All-Ireland winner announcing her retirement last winter.

AFLW player Sinead Goldrick couldn't make bi-location work this year and opted out while veteran forward Sinead Aherne, who captained Dublin to the four-in-a-row in 2020, is an impact sub these days after her mid-season return from retirement.

Throw in goalkeeper Ciara Trant's exit, the absence of Niamh Collins, Siobhan McGrath and Siobhan Killeen and it all adds up to a hemorrhaging of All-Ireland winning experience.

Injuries were cruel to Dublin as well. As manager Mick Bohan noted this week, at one stage 'in nine months, we had three ACLs'.

Into that void has stepped Carla Rowe to provide vital leadership. She was an ever present throughout the glory years of 2017 to 2020 but when Bohan threw her the captaincy last January he asked the three-time All-Star to take on a new level of leadership.

"It's always the goal to be back in Croke Park but at the start of the year, it was probably the first year where you might have questioned that with this Dublin team," said Rowe. "I suppose when you were writing down the list of players who were leaving the panel, there were some names that you'd have said you'd never replace. But the girls have stepped up hugely."

New additions - defenders Niamh Donlon and Niamh Crowley were both Dublin minors last year while Eilish O'Dowd previously played for Leitrim - along with some strategic tweaking - former midfielder Lauren Magee is providing a real punch now from the half-back line - has allowed Dublin to bridge the gap.

"At the start, we would have said it was a new group," said Rowe. "But right now the team is just so cohesive. Every week and every training session that we get together, we're growing on the pitch and off the pitch in terms of friendship. That really comes onto the pitch then. You see that in the way we're backing eachother up and how we're there for eachother. Right now, we're one group and we're really all rolling in the right direction.

"We play the sport because we're all very competitive and you want to win but with this Dublin team there's something a little bit more there in terms of friendship.

"Mick always says that in years and years to come, when you're not playing sport, you'll go down the street and you'll see one of the girls and you'll just know by the eye contact with eachother that you've been through something together. That's kind of like a bond you just have forever."

Rowe, a schoolteacher in Balbriggan, admitted that last year's campaign was a difficult one, a rare summer that ended at the quarter-final stage. Donegal beat Dublin that day, overwhelming them with their counter-attacking game plan, though revenge was extracted more recently when Dublin beat the Ulster champions by 3-12 to 0-6 at the same stage this term.

"Last year was the first year that I've been on the senior team that we hadn't got to the All-Ireland final," said Rowe, who started out with the Dubs in 2014. "It was really, really difficult to watch it.

"The girls actually came to my house (for the final) out in Naul. And we watched it together. You'd definitely be watching it because it's the All-Ireland final. But I just thought that year, given that it was such a shock for us and such a disappointment, we wanted to just get together quietly.

"It's hard watching it, when that final whistle goes and you know what that feeling is that Meath had. Jealousy I suppose comes in there and you want to be back there but you use that to drive you forward."

Kerry took out holders Meath at the quarter-final stage this year before securing their final spot with a win over Mayo. Despite also beating Dublin twice this year, in the National League and Championship, they are considerable underdogs for Sunday's decider.

A full 30 years on from Kerry's last triumph, they will be happy to be underdogs and won't lack motivation.

"You can look at that in many different ways," reasoned Rowe. "Like, we know what it feels like to win and we want that feeling again ourselves. So we equally know what it feels like, to have that hunger, similar to Kerry. Yes, they're going to have huge hunger but so will we in different ways."