Five-in-a-row history makers Dublin currently have a vice like grip on the All-Ireland title. Gaelic Life’s Niall Gartland gets the thoughts of Rory Grugan, Aidan Breen and Stephen King on whether some of their success is down to an imbalance and a championship deck heavily stacked in their favour…

Niall Gartland: Do you think everything’s set up for Dublin to do well?

Rory Grugan: You often hear that argument in relation to funding, but
I think playing population is possibly a bigger factor as it makes it
easier for them to produce a group of top players. There’s no doubt
that the structures that were put in place, initially under Pat Gilroy
and then carried on by Jim Gavin, have brought them to a new level in
terms of their professionalism. They have such a great culture within
their teams, that no-one is ever safe, and that’s driven them to new
heights.

Every year there always seemed to be a fresh talent, from Brian Fenton
to Brian Howard and Eoin Murchan.

The conveyor belt kept on rolling and older players who seemed
irreplaceable have just retired or been content to be on the bench and
play a bit-part role. They’ve lost players like Bernard and Alan
Brogan and Paul Flynn and kept on winning. You have to give them
massive credit, they’ve had the hunger to keep on coming back to beat
seriously hungry teams like Mayo and I’ve nothing but respect for them.

NG: Do you think eventually they’ll fall back into the chasing pack or
will the GAA have to change something to level things out like splitting the county?

RG: I don’t imagine they’ll split Dublin and I don’t think that’d be
fair either. I’d say if you look back through the doors, there’s
always been a similar trend of certain counties who are always there
or thereabout in competing for All-Irelands.

Some of that’s to do with provincial structures, some teams have had
to play fewer games to win an All-Ireland. I think we’re moving
torwards a situation where teams will have to play an equal amount of
games, it’s the only fair competition structure. That might even
things out but I imagine the likes of Dublin and Kerry will always be
competing for All-Irelands. That might just be the way it has to be,
but I think teams are striving hard to close the gap, Kerry and Mayo
have pushed them close in recent years. They found a way to match
them, I hope it’s cyclical and it might become the norm that they’ll
lose games. By the nature of probability I don’t think it’ll last
forever.

NG: So as a player you’ve never felt jealous about some of their
advantages?

RG: In most aspects I’m not jealous. People point to the fact that
Dublin players live and work mostly in Dublin so they don’t have a big
commute which is beneficial. To be fair I’ve never lived far away from
where Armagh train.

You compare other counties, Donegal boys working in Dublin for
example, and they do have big challenges, but most of our squad
haven’t had that issue.

In terms of training facilities, we mightn’t have the same advantages
but they’re planning to build a new facility and that’s exciting
moving forward. Whether that’s there in my time is a different thing.
But apart from that you just try to get on with it.

Niall Gartland: Do you think the gap is too big at the moment?

Aidan Breen: It is starting to look like that, but at the same time you don’t want to make excuses. It is sickening when you see Dublin
players with their sponsored cars, their training facilities and
everything handed to them. We struggle big time and it’s embarrassing
that we’ve had to go outside our own county for training pitches.

NG: Fermanagh received the least coaching money from the GAA last year
whereas Dublin got way more than everyone else…

AB: There’s a spending cap in some sports, and if a team is struggling
they get a bit of a hand but that’s not the case in the GAA. We’re
killed for facilities here, all the big businesses are based in
Belfast and Dublin, so it’s really difficult. It’s embarrassing how
much money Dublin gets compared to the rest of us. I suppose fair play
to them, they’re getting it and they’re making the most of it.

NG: Is there anything the GAA should do, short of splitting Dublin?

AB: I think money should be spread fairly and pumped into the counties
that don’t have the facilities. How much more money can they give
Dublin? They have everything they need. In the long-run it’d work out
better for everyone as the league and championship would be more
competitive. The way it’s going, I can’t see the gap between the top
three and four and everyone else closing.

NG: Is Fermanagh struggling more than usual to have access to
facilities?

AB: It has always been like this as long as I can remember. You don’t
know where training is from one day to the next.

In fairness the boys in the backroom, boys like Aidan McElroy, are
ringing every club every week to see if there’s any chance of using
their pitch?

It’s not the clubs fault in Fermanagh either, a lot of them just don’t
have floodlights.

Niall Gartland: Do you think Dublin’s advantages are unfair on the
rest of us?

Stephen King: I don’t pay much attention to the arguments about Dublin
having too much money. We’re still an ordinary sport and we all go out
and train as best we can. I think where they do have an advantage
though is that they get to training shortly after work as they’re
nearly all based in Dublin. Other guys around the country might have
to drive hours to training but I also feel that there’s far too much
collective training generally and the current situation might actually
lead to more individually based programmes which could suit players
with a long commute. If a teacher, for instance, finishes at 3 or 4pm
they could go and do their programme and have the evening for
themselves.

NG: So generally speaking you think it’s up to other counties to up
their game?

SK: That’s it really. In my humble opinion Kerry should have beaten
Dublin the first day out in last year’s final. They were ahead and let
Dublin back into it. They have the five in-a-row but they showed
they’re not unbeatable. People say about the money and all this and I
don’t think it’s fair on Dublin. I think they’re a unique team with a
serious bit of talent, they came through at minor and underage level,
similar to Tyrone’s success in the noughties. A lot of Dublin’s
players followed the same track.

NG: You don’t think Dublin’s success will last forever then?

SK: I nearly got it right last year, I thought they were going to get
caught. If the championship goes ahead this year I don’t think they’ll
win it. They’re a very disciplined group of fellas and they don’t
suffer from the drop-out rates that’s blighting other counties, so
again I think other counties need to look at ways they can adopt their
training regimes. I don’t think Cavan players should have to drive
four or five times a week to Breffni Park. People need their lives
back and it’ll only help teams in the long-run.