GAA: IAN O'RIORDANtalks to Alan McCrabbe about a memorable day at Croke Park and says the former All Star is clearly focused on the challenges ahead
IT WAS unbelievable the number of times Alan McCrabbe looked forward to the championship when looking back on Sunday’s victory in the Allianz Hurling League. The Dublin midfielder was effectively saying their victory over Kilkenny will count for nothing unless they build on it come the summer, however far that takes them.
But McCrabbe knows too well the dangers of getting carried away: an All Star in 2009, he saw his form dip last year – like a lot of team-mates – and then in January was told his career could be over unless he underwent surgery for cartilage damage on his hip.
Expected to miss the entire league, McCrabbe came off the bench against Cork in the penultimate round, then started on Sunday in what turned out to be a dream day for Dublin hurling. This time, like a lot of team-mates, he didn’t let the chance slip.
“When I got the news in January I obviously thought it would be bad,” he says, “that I wouldn’t be back at all for the league, and would be pushing to be back for the championship. But everything went well after the operation, and on the rehab, so it was great to be back out there and be a part of it.
“I really pushed myself through training there the last two weeks, and thanks to Anthony Daly he gave me the start, and I did alright. To beat Kilkenny in style as well . . . the fact we didn’t just win it by a point, but we won it by 12 in the end, shows this team has been building on everything, and hopefully come the championship we can build again.”
McCrabbe admits no one in Dublin them expected to win as convincingly as they did, although they did expect to win; defeat to Kilkenny in last summer’s championship, before the wretched exit to Antrim, was still fresh in their minds.
“We thought it would go down to the wire, and that we would have the fitness in the end. And we really kept going the last 10 minutes, while they probably faded away. I suppose us having the extra man for much of the game possibly was a factor in the end.
“Last year we did fade away after conceding a goal early to Kilkenny, but this shows the mentality in the team now. The way we get on with it now, go back and just score points, and just don’t react negatively to goals like that so early in the game. We just stick with it. The mindset is good this year, and hopefully it will happen for us in the championship again this year.”
As a member of Craobh Chiaráin, McCrabbe comes from one of the few so-called traditional Dublin hurling clubs represented in the current panel: but whether it’s Ryan O’Dwyer or Conal Keaney he doesn’t care where they come from.
“Yeah they’ve made a huge impact. But we’ve always had Paul Ryan there. All he had to do was get his head together, and really start playing. And obviously he did. Thanks God he’s come through this year, and with the two lads coming in as well, hopefully they can push on for the championship this year.
“Even from the start of the year we said the league was only the league. It’s the Offaly game we’re looking forward to now, on May 29th.
“We know they’re going to be bulling to get at us now, especially us as league champions. But the lads are all level-headed, and we’ll come down to earth this week, back to training, meet for a warm down.”
Among those McCrabbe credited in Dublin’s win was the 16th man – also known as Hill 16. “The atmosphere was incredible. It’s great to see so many supporters coming out, and hopefully we can keep building on it.
“Hopefully come the championship we can even try to fill the place more, get on a roll, and hopefully push on in the championship as well.”
“We thought it would go down to the wire, and that we would have the fitness in the end. And we really kept going the last 10 minutes, while they probably faded away. I suppose us having the extra man for much of the game possibly was a factor in the end.
