“There are a huge amount of players out there but are they of the standard, of the sheer dedication that’s required (to be the best)”.
Those are the words of former Dublin hurling manager Humphrey Kelleher on whether his former side can rise to the top of their field like the footballers have done in theirs.
Listen to the interview in full here;
Following Pat Gilroy’s first year in charge giving him and the team time to settle in together this upcoming season should be one of more success for the hurlers. A large amount of young talent has been given a call up amongst the already experienced panel and Kelleher shares his thoughts on what went wrong last season and what Dublin must work on.
“In the Kilkenny match (last season), where we able to execute the actions under pressure and sadly we were falling down there.”
“They’re small little bits to work on.”
“It’s up to a combination of factors, the management putting in the right structures and the players to deliver on them.”
With Limerick taking on Galway in this years All Ireland final Humphrey explains why Dublin should be a team pushing for the major silverware in hurling and the actions that need to be taken to kick start that ascent.
“What Jim Gavin is doing with the footballers, he’s bringing in new players all the time. He’ll give them the experience and that exposure. We need to be doing that with the hurling in Dublin as well.”
“I feel over the years a lot of players have come through, Cuala have won two All Irelands in club so we know the standard is there.”
“We need to bring enough players through that we’re able to say there is nothing preventing them from doing what the Limerick’s and the Galway’s have done. It’s up to ourselves to say this is the benchmark and we’re going to achieve it.”
Also, on the show this morning we were joined by Dublin manager Jim Gavin and Dublin Ladies manager Mick Bohan ahead of their upcoming respective All Ireland fixtures. Daryl Horgan chats on why he made the move from Preston to Hibernian in the Scottish Premier League.
Listen to the show in full below;
Now That’s What I Call Sport is live every Sunday morning from 9am.
