Mick Galvin: Dublin’s strength in Leinster is their biggest weakness

The last thing Longford need to hear is another prediction of a Dublin team ready to “hit the ground running, bury them, then move on to the next task” – especially from someone close to the Dublin camp.

That’s not saying Mick Galvin doesn’t have reservations about what’s coming further down the tracks. The 1995 All-Ireland winner – uniquely positioned to assess Sunday’s game given he played alongside both Dublin manager Jim Gavin and Longford manager Jack Sheedy – believes Dublin’s strength in Leinster remains their only weakness.

Galvin also believes both managers are in a no-win situation: Gavin won’t have learnt much about his team come Sunday, and the best Sheedy can hope for is “an honourable defeat, by 16 points,” assuming he doesn’t drive the team bus onto Croke Park as well.

‘Honourable defeat’

“Knowing Jack, I think they’ll come and play football,” says Galvin. “It depends though when it’s in for Longford. Is it an honourable defeat, by 16 points? But I think that would be against the ethos of Longford football. Having said that, would I rather be still in the game with 10 minutes to go, than get beaten by 16 points?

“That might cause some scorn from Longford supporters, if they do that. But I think Longford will be happy to come up here, put in a good shift. If they go defensive, they’ll have to change everything. And I can’t see them doing that. Even though they should.”

As for Dublin, Galvin is effectively predicting a non-contest. It’s 20 years now since he helped Dublin through a far more treacherous provincial campaign, including a couple of road trips, only this time he can’t see anyone halting Dublin’s run towards a fifth Leinster title in succession – and 10th in 11 years.

“Leinster to us, at the time, was ultra competitive,” says Galvin. “The big thing for us was playing out of Croke Park as well, going down to play in Kildare, or Carlow, where we had to go a couple of times. They were tough assignments, and we had to take them seriously. There was always a feeling of achieving something tangible when you went back training on a Tuesday night.

“I don’t see that competitive nature, now. Although I do think Laois, and Meath, will be a little bit better this year than they have been. I’m not sure if that’s a suspicion, or maybe a hope. And I’m sure Jack Sheedy will feel they’re going into Dublin’s back yard, and will have to come up with a plan, but in all honesty, I can’t see anything other than Dublin winning by 10 points or more.”

Therein lies the danger, because with no one expected to test them in Leinster, it will be August before Dublin will know just how good they are or, like last summer, what cracks may remain: “Of course that is a worry. And there’s no way around it. I just know Jim will be hoping they’ll have some tough games along the way.

“He has Alan Brogan back in, there’s a lot of competition for places, and that can up the ante in training. But that’s as much as Dublin can do, until they see who presents themselves, on the first weekend in August. And hope we’re a little bit more ready for it than last year.”

Galvin also points to Dublin’s experience in 1992, when they beat Clare to make the All-Ireland final only to be caught out by Donegal. “If you look back to 1992, we beat Clare in the All-Ireland semi-final, then got stuffed by Donegal in the final. And they’d just played one of the worst semi-finals, in history, where they beat Mayo. Everyone said they had no chance. And we saw what happened.

“So as much as people tell you, it’s something you just can’t prepare for. I do think this is a pretty well adjusted Dublin group, and I’d be surprised if they get caught like that again. But it is a possibility, yeah.”

There are some aspects of Sunday’s game which Galvin is excited about including the rising pedigree of Dean Rock as Dublin’s first-choice free-taker, having also played alongside his father, Barney. Inevitably, Galvin is also drawn into making some comparisons.

“I was going to say Dean is quicker, but he’s not. They’re quite similar. Barney was very grounded, and I think Dean is the same. He’s been patient, too, waited for his chance, and it will be a big summer for him. Is he better free-taker than Barney? No. He (Dean) is a great free-taker, but Barney was very special. Off the ground, either side, he was very, very good.”

‘Exceptional’

Galvin also thinks Gavin has a big call to make with the Dublin number six: “We had John Small in there, with the under-21s, and he is exceptional. I’d say he’s a throwback to 20 years ago. He’s strong, physical, uses the ball well. Cian O’Sullivan is a Rolls Royce of a footballer, but I wouldn’t think as effective a number six as John is, for sitting in the position. And Ger Brennan is back, so Jim has a big call to make. If I was a betting man I’d say he’ll go with Cian.”