Seán Bugler doubful for Dublin ahead of All-Ireland final clash with Kerry

Dessie Farrell believes Seán Bugler will be “touch and go” to be available for Dublin’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final against Kerry on Sunday, July 30th.

Bugler has been one of Dublin’s most consistent players this season, but a calf injury forced the in-form half forward to miss last Saturday’s semi-final win over Monaghan, despite having been named in the starting team. It is the only championship match the versatile Bugler has missed this year, having started in Dublin’s previous seven games. He scored in six of those outings and has so far amassed a personal tally of 1-12 this summer.

But Farrell admits the St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh club man is in a race against time to be fit for the Kerry showdown.

“It’ll be touch and go, being honest,” said the Dublin manager. “We’re throwing everything at it and we’re hoping he’ll be all right. It’s the top of his calf, moving up to the back of his leg. We’re hoping we’re going to have him right, I honestly don’t know whether he will be or not. I’d imagine it will be a late fitness test and all of that.”

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He is Dublin’s only fitness concern ahead of the decider with Farrell adding they had “got out of it relatively okay” in terms of serious injury setbacks over the course of the entire 2023 season.

Farrell was speaking at Dublin’s pre-All-Ireland final media event at Parnell Park on Tuesday, where he backed calls from Kerry boss Jack O’Connor for the GAA to address the issue of managers getting messages on the field to their players.

“Yeah, I think it’s tough. Like, on the bigger days, just trying to communicate messages is so difficult,” added Farrell.

“There may be other sports that it’s equally as hard but a lot of them now, like soccer, for some reason seems to be a little bit easier. Basketball have timeouts, in American football there’s a challenge. There’s so much going on and the pitch is so big. Like, it’s a game of chess nowadays, as we know, so being able to make strategic calls … [is] a feature of the game now.

“You’re reliant on, and hoping that, your voice can carry or that somebody catches your eye and you’re able to gesture. It should be a little bit easier, I would have thought.”

As a former chief executive of the Gaelic Players Association, Farrell has been keeping an eye on the current protest by women players who are striving for equality with their male counterparts in terms of the formulation of an agreed charter.

“It’s disappointing that it’s taken so long to be resolved,” said Farrell. “I’m not sure how close it is, it could be very close because the soundings from the GAA are very positive. But I think, to be fair to the GAA, they traditionally have a track record of getting it right. It might take some time but I am confident that it will be sorted out.

“It’s something that needs to be sorted out and resolved because I definitely think the GAA will be stronger and better for getting it resolved, and the quicker the better.”