Gavin Cummiskeytalks to former players who recall how Dublin bought into the need for conditioning under Paul Caffrey
DUBLIN WILL complete a neat full circle if they remove Tyrone from the championship this evening. Many of the same personnel who drew blood in the corresponding fixture in 2005 are still toiling away but while Mickey Harte's Tyrone team are on the down slope, having planted two flags at the highest peak, Dublin remain on the precipice of what many consider to be their destiny.
If Ray Cosgrove's injury-time free in the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final had shaved the other side of the upright Dublin would have forced a replay with Armagh and perhaps generated enough momentum in Tommy Lyons's first year to even beat Kerry in the All-Ireland final. Hindsight, however, makes it easier to dismiss such a notion. Dublin went badly off the boil in 2003 and 2004. As the four-year period that followed showed, they lacked the armoury to overthrow the top tier. First it was Armagh, then Tyrone who translated advanced training methods and physicality into national success.
Kerry responded with what must be considered a soft All-Ireland in 2004 (Tyrone were catching their breath while Armagh were caught cold by Fermanagh) before the seminal moment in this Dublin team's progress arrived with the 2005 quarter-final defeat.
Tyrone's All-Ireland triumph that season seemed like the defining moment of an era that brought football down a new path. It forced Kerry to evolve but it seemed to quench Tyrone's thirst. When a county win their first two All-Irelands in a three-year period they can lose hunger. Tyrone will seek to tap into some semblance of their old emotions today.
Granted, they pilfered a provincial title last season but they have yet to revisit the zenith of that second half against Kerry in the 2005 final. Injuries have followed at an alarming rate.
Sure, the Great Redeemer Peter Canavan slipped into the world of punditry (as have former Dubs Coman Goggins with RTÉ and Senan Connell with TV3) and the 2005 footballer of the year, Stephen O'Neill, retired, aged 27.
The main cog in their attack was Brian McGuigan but a horrific run of injuries only sees him returning to the intercounty scene in recent weeks. Whether his convalescence has been effective will be revealed today.
The same can be said, but on a marginally lesser scale, of captain Brian Dooher.
But back to Dublin. They have become a cliche with each passing summer. When the Dubs are purring everyone in the city is supposedly content. "Diehard" followers appear from affluent and less salubrious suburbs alike.
The players have learned to cope with the suffocating hype. Recently, they have become more proactive in the media. These maturing men appear comfortable in the role of Sam Maguire contenders. Understandable, considering this has been their lot since 2002.
Others like Ciarán Whelan and Jason Sherlock have toiled in this garden of hurt since 1996.
A massive turning point came after that 2005 quarter-final replay defeat to Tyrone. Owen Mulligan - who, ominously for Dublin, will be on the bench today - grabbed two memorable goals over the two games. One was a work of cheeky brilliance, when a double dummy left the Dublin defence in tatters; the other was an impressive show of strength as he shrugged off the corner back Stephen O'Shaughnessy before blasting past Stephen Cluxton.
The Lyons era had ended in failure a year earlier with defeat to Westmeath and a comprehensive hiding by Kerry after they found their way back to Croke Park via the backwaters.
Most of the management team was retained as Paul "Pillar" Caffrey took over. He expanded the backroom team so it resembled a professional set-up to rival, if not surpass, what Eddie O'Sullivan had assembled in the Ireland rugby set-up.
If the players hadn't bought into Pillar's way by the first campaign, the frontliners were all on board after being emptied by Tyrone. The realisation was simple: they had stayed with the best on the first day but when it was time to dig into the reserves, Dublin had no response to Tyrone's pace and power.
"By then Pillar had come in and 2005 was seen as year one in terms of developing," explained Connell. "We needed to get stronger in the tackle. People say Leinster was way behind the rest but when Pillar came in we addressed our shortcomings over the next few years with a strong commitment to strength and conditioning to get us up to the required standard.
"The other contenders in Leinster have not done this.
"Tactically we were not as clued in either and we were not used to grinding out games like the big-timers. We bought into the whole conditioning aspect and you can see it now in the development of players like Mossie Quinn or Shane Ryan.
"In the 2005 draw, Mickey Harte made around 10 changes at half-time - be it subs or positional - that changed the whole game."
Dublin adopted a very specific model of physical development that stayed true to the necessities of Gaelic football (pace and movement) but was designed to build the requisite strength to leave all Leinster rivals in their wake these past few summers.
"It is almost a rugby league physique," says the 2002 Dublin captain Coman Goggins. "We aimed to develop both speed and power, as opposed to Armagh, who seemed to primarily focus on strength work. The Dublin midfield are the best example. You need the legs to burn as a game develops. Just take a look at a picture of Ciarán Whelan, a naturally big man, back in 2002 and today. The difference is immediately evident."
Ryan is probably the prototype. The man is built like a small tank but, as his display against Wexford showed, he has retained stamina and improved his speed.
The lighter Wexford men bounced off him whenever he got up a head of steam.
A four-year plan is expected to reach fruition today and over the coming weeks. Kerry remain the best football team but only Dublin look capable of stopping a three-in-a-row. Despite all this impressive development, Kerry have been at it for at least an extra year as the 2003 semi-final defeat to Tyrone set the Kingdom brain's trust into action.
In 2003 Dublin captured their first under-21 All-Ireland when they swept Tyrone aside in the final. That team was led, as the seniors are now, by Alan Brogan and included Bryan Cullen, Conal Keaney and Paul Griffin. A year before Dublin were whipped by Galway in the under-21 final, a team that also included Stephen Cluxton, Paul Casey and Tomás Quinn (Barry Cahill was injured).
These men have been at it for at least five years. They are the core of Caffrey's panel, along with Whelan, Ryan and Sherlock.
"Lyons brought them on board in 2002 and 2003," recalls Connell. "I already knew Alan Brogan and Barry Cahill from having them in school and they came with good pedigrees from minor and various underage teams. Along with Barry Cahill they fitted in like a glove. It helped there were a few father-figure-type lads in the panel like Dec Darcy, Jim Gavin, Dessie Farrell and Paul Curran.
"Na Fianna were going well at the time so we were late coming back in for the National League and you could already see how well the lads had fitted in. I remember even Paul Casey came up from half back to kick a point down in Galway that kept us up.
"Cahill was holding his own as a corner back although we knew he was a natural wing back. Brogan was almost like a young Jayo. He had that spark about him even in training - a confidence and good personality to go with it.
"In 2003 it didn't go well. 2004 was a disaster. But it took a few years for the next few young fellas to settle in. Lyons let Gavin, Darcy and Curran go off the panel, while Dessie decided to stay on. We could have done with these elder statesmen staying on. I suppose it was up to lads like myself, Ciarán Whelan and Jayo Sherlock to take up that mantle.
"You could see the class in players like Bryan Cullen, Paul Griffin and David Henry but it takes every player three to four years to adjust to the pressures of playing in Croke Park and the belief to really kick on."
This year Caffrey was forced to change his coaching style.
"He can never be blamed for failing to prepare," says Goggins. "To his credit this year he has opened up the team more. It is not such a closed shop anymore.
Eamonn Fennell, Kevin Bonner and Kevin Nolan are proof of this as they have kept former certainties like Whelan, Bernard Brogan and Casey out of the side at various times during the championship. With Whelan and Sherlock expected to retire, is this the last chance for the Dublin team as we know it?
"I wouldn't say last-chance saloon but it is a big chance to jump through the hoop rather than standing there looking at it."
