Dublin 2011 to 2020 Those were the days my friend…..AKA COYBIB

[trueblue1234]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

[Armagh18]

Probably Mayo 2016 and 17 plus McManus and Beggan?

[thewobbler]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

[trueblue1234]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

He was fantastic in the early part. He had 2-3 seasons up there with any of them. Maybe not as long lived as some of they but I remember him being brilliant.

[The good doctor]

It's like the East German world records you see in athletics, it's like Michelle Smith with her heap of medals from the Olympics, it's like Lance Armstrong with his 7 Tour De France wins. No matter what, any Dublin team this century will always be associated with financial doping.

[hoynevalley]

It's like the East German world records you see in athletics, it's like Michelle Smith with her heap of medals from the Olympics, it's like Lance Armstrong with his 7 Tour De France wins. No matter what, any Dublin team this century will always be associated with financial doping.

Welcome on board Ewan!

[hoynevalley]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

He was fantastic in the early part. He had 2-3 seasons up there with any of them. Maybe not as long lived as some of they but I remember him being brilliant.

O'Donoghue was class. Never same after his shoulder popped against kildare in 2015. Read somewhere shoulder kept popping out after that. Never got run of games after that.

[From the Bunker]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

He was fantastic in the early part. He had 2-3 seasons up there with any of them. Maybe not as long lived as some of they but I remember him being brilliant.

O'Donoghue was class. Never same after his shoulder popped against kildare in 2015. Read somewhere shoulder kept popping out after that. Never got run of games after that.

In the 2014 AI semi v Mayo. O'Donohue and Donaghy were untouchable...............You laid a finger on them and it was a free. Cormac Reilly's assists were incredible that evening.

[Never beat the deeler]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

He was fantastic in the early part. He had 2-3 seasons up there with any of them. Maybe not as long lived as some of they but I remember him being brilliant.

O'Donoghue was class. Never same after his shoulder popped against kildare in 2015. Read somewhere shoulder kept popping out after that. Never got run of games after that.

O'D had this move where he did the stop start. He was quicker than most over the first 2-3 steps so he could get his shot away and very difficult to mark one on one. Most markers were already beaten as soon as he had the ball in his hands.
Keith Higgins was one of the few that could live with him over the first couple of steps and they had some epic battles.

Was robbed of a lot of his best years due to injury and I felt when he didn't have that explosive burst towards the end he looked a bit lost.

Wouldn't have him in the 'best of the rest fifteen' though

[trueblue1234]

Cooper, Lacey,, Cavanagh, O Donogue, McHugh, C'OC, Petey Harte, A'OShea, Andy Moran all there or there about.

O'Donaghue? Seriously?

He was fantastic in the early part. He had 2-3 seasons up there with any of them. Maybe not as long lived as some of they but I remember him being brilliant.

O'Donoghue was class. Never same after his shoulder popped against kildare in 2015. Read somewhere shoulder kept popping out after that. Never got run of games after that.

I honestly thought during those first few years he'd be the natural successor for Cooper. But burned out to quickly. As a man with multiple shoulder dislocations myself it can badly effect you in the head as well.

[Jell 0 Biafra]

It's like the East German world records you see in athletics, it's like Michelle Smith with her heap of medals from the Olympics, it's like Lance Armstrong with his 7 Tour De France wins. No matter what, any Dublin team this century will always be associated with financial doping.

Quite right.  We made sure to lose this one with our weak bench solely to discredit the "funding-driven-talent-conveyor-belt" argument. 

We'll show our true strength in depth bench next season.


...or will it be the following one.....?

[johnnycool]

The thing I found with them was that they had made football about "the process". If you look at project management and things like risk assessment that is how they played. They continually recycled the ball until they had a shooting chance which they felt they were certain to score. That is what leads to the incessant handpassing. Kick passes etc would only be given whenever they were sure the man was in the right position and they could deliver it precisely. You could see from earlier on against Meath and even Kildare despite the end scoreline that the process and their risk assessments etc were on the wane. Even boys like Fenton were kicking balls short and kicking silly wides. That would just never have happened under Gavin.

They are absolutely fantastic don't get me wrong but it had reached the point where I didn't enjoy most of their games. I just felt the above had taken some of the enjoyment out of it. I am not sure I fully enjoy Limerick either if I'm honest in the hurling as I think that is a direction they are heading.

I hear where you're coming from and would agree with most of what you say but that shouldn't take away from the skill levels required to "execute" these processes. Fenton, Cluxton, O'Callaghan, Rock's and quite a few others are almost once in a generation players IMO and that shouldn't be taken away from them and their achievements. The fact that in a lot of their games the result was never in doubt isn't their problem. We saw the same with the Kilkenny hurlers in their pomp who physically pommeled their opponents yet had the skill to finish the job when required.

Limerick to my mind are the same and that was re-enforced in the 2020 Munster final when their stickwork in torrential rain was superior to Tipp's and we think of Tipp as being the benchmark for stickwork and wristy hurlers. Limerick bettered them that day in that regard also. They could be coming into the midpoint of their cycle but I do hope Cork and some other counties kick on and make these championships competitive unlike hurling during the Kilkenny era and football during the Dublin era.

[Rossfan]

Now that Cork have their development systems working they have started to reap the benefits (in all 3 Hurling Finals) .
Ye  can expect they with their numbers will dominate the hurling world for some time. Might be next year before it happens at Senior though.

[johnnycool]

Now that Cork have their development systems working they have started to reap the benefits (in all 3 Hurling Finals) .
Ye  can expect they with their numbers will dominate the hurling world for some time. Might be next year before it happens at Senior though.

Can't see them dominating as Limerick are a young team themselves and won't go quietly into the night.

I could live with Cork and Limerick tearing at it for a few years though. It's the monopolies that are bad for any sport.

[Rossfan]

Duoplies aren't much fun either if you're one of the other 30.
Playing in the  AI football Final has become a "Quadropoly" since 2014 and not much sign of anyone else breaking ut up.