Bullish Bugler insists Dublin still in All-Ireland hunt

Staycity Aparthotels is proud sponsor of Dublin GAA across all four codes of the game. Along with Seán Bugler, Seán Currie, Jessica Tobin and Kerrie Finnegan, they want to show what it means to be ‘Made of Dublin’ this championship season. Pic: James Crombie/Inpho

Bullish Sean Bugler has insisted that Dublin are still chasing All-Ireland success despite losing their first game in the Leinster SFC since 2010.

Bugler winced last weekend as the Dubs were dramatically turned over by Meath, looking on from the Portlaoise stand due to an ankle injury.

His absence was a big blow to Dublin considering he'd been their player of the season so far with four Man of the Match awards in the National League.

But he has indicated that he will be back for Dublin's All-Ireland SFC group opener with their opposition set to be revealed today.

Dublin will be third seeds in the draw for the four-team groups but a confident Bugler said the wounded Blues will be happy to take on anyone.

Speaking at an event for Dublin GAA sponsor Staycity Aparthotels, Bugler made it clear that their All-Ireland ambitions remain.

"Yeah, definitely," he said. "After losing any game, you might question your confidence but I see the talent, everyone sees the talent within the group.

"Yes, we haven't performed to our best but look, the draw is going to be made and we'll be ready. You could get a tough group but we'll cherish it.

"If you want to win the All-Ireland, which we do, you're going to have to knock the big teams off their horse as well. So we'll look forward to it and we'll really go after it."

Dublin, Monaghan, Roscommon and Tyrone will all be third seeds in the 1.30pm draw.

It's far from ideal for 2023 All-Ireland winners Dublin who could potentially be thrown into a group of death with old rivals Kerry, holders Armagh and 2024 league winners Derry.

"Look, as I said, it's not ideal but we'll be looking forward to it," said Bugler. "We'll be ready. We'll really prime ourselves, whoever we get, and we'll really put ourselves in a decent position to put our best foot forward on the day.

"You want to play the big teams, you want to really test yourself against the big teams. So that's what we're looking forward to doing."

A fit again Bugler will be a big addition when Dublin get going again. The 27-year-old St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh man said it should only be a temporary lay-off.

"I picked up a niggle there last week, Sunday just probably came a bit too early for me," explained Bugler, who missed the Armagh game in the league with a separate calf injury. "I'll be back on the pitch in the next few days."

Bugler noted that Eoin Murchan, Sean MacMahon, Luke Breathnach, Cian Murphy and Lee Gannon missed the Meath game with injuries too.

"For us, it's just going to be about getting bodies back on the pitch, with the injuries we have, and take the learnings from the game on Sunday in terms of what we can do better, and chase after that," he said.

"It doesn't matter who we get in the Championship - our goal hasn't changed. We still want to win the All-Ireland and in order to win the All-Ireland you have to beat the big teams. We will be ready to go in three or four weeks' time, or whatever it is, and we will look forward to it."

Bugler said he watched Sunday's game from the stand in Portlaoise with a couple of other injured players who travelled together.

He was itching to take part having enjoyed a dream start to the year, blasting 2-23 in the league and adding two more points in the provincial quarter-final win over Wicklow.

His spike in form is timely because aside from the injuries, Dublin lost household names Brian Fenton, James McCarthy, Jack McCaffrey, Michael Fitzsimons and Paul Mannion to retirement.

"We obviously lost a lot of players, a lot of experienced players and with that a lot of talent. I always knew I had the potential and the talent to perform like that, it was just about showing it.

"And this year I really went after it in the off-season and really wanted to get better and show what I'm made of. Thankfully to date I have but there's still so many areas in my game that I can improve. That'll be my focus over the next couple of weeks."