A good start to the new era.
One of Pat Gilroy’s first big decisions since he took over the Dublin senior hurlers was bringing Peter Kelly and Johnny McCaffrey back into the set-up.
Gilroy’s first decision was indeed a great decision.
Peter Kelly and Johnny McCaffrey were dropped from the Dublin hurling panel by Ger Cunningham for the 2017 season. The Lucan Sarsfields pair had been leaders of Dublin hurling for 10 years before being axed by the Cork man.
Drafted into the capital city’s hurling panel in 2006, McCaffrey was introduced to Dublin hurling when it was in the doldrums, when it had little to cling to in terms of recent senior success.
They had plans, though, they had big plans. Hope sprang eternal when Clare legend Anthony Daly was appointed as manager. Daly had ideas for Dublin, Daly wanted to change things, and that he did.
He changed things by looking at youngsters. Dublin won the Leinster minor title in 2005 – Johnny McCaffrey was the captain of that side. A dual minor, McCaffrey followed his heart to join up with the Dublin hurlers instead of taking the more glamorous option of the footballers.
On top of McCaffrey, a host of fresh, young faces were brought in. Peter Kelly was one of them. Daly made wholesale changes to the panel, bringing characters that wanted to hurl for Dublin.
Daly saw potential in Dublin, he saw personality and character. He saw Kelly and McCaffrey. He saw the future.
It took a while, but Dublin kicked on. The county became one of the main players in the Leinster and All-Ireland championships for the next six years.
Their first breakthrough came in reaching the 2009 Leinster hurling final. They lost, but they put it up to Kilkenny on that day. Over the next few years, Dublin grew.
New talent kept emerging from the county’s prosperous youth system. Danny Sutcliffe arrived in 2011. He was that classy forward they needed. His influence helped to fire them to a historic league title in 2011.
They won the Leinster championship in 2013, their first time to do that since 1961. Losing to Cork in that year’s semi-final was a blow, but Dublin had beaten the door down and they were here to stay.
In 2014, they had a good year, but eventually lost to Tipperary in a ferociously competitive quarter-final. Anthony Daly felt he had brought this team as far as he could manage in his six years in charge, and he walked away that September.
Ger Cunningham took over, and despite reaching the quarter-finals in 2015, the wheels soon deserted the sky blue wagon.
Player unrest was rife and some of the best hurlers in Dublin weren’t hurling for their county – Danny Sutcliffe – the county’s great white hope departed and that was a huge blow, a blow that Cunningham couldn’t and wouldn’t recover from.
Other players followed and 2016 was another disappointing season. After that year, Cunningham culled McCaffrey and Kelly – two of the side’s leaders, two of the dressing room’s characters.
Why?
Cunningham explained his decision to DublinGAA.ie.
“It is largely a young squad but, along with our aims of continuing to try and make Dublin Hurling successful in the short term, one of our key aims is building a solid foundation for the future.
“With this young squad, and with Dublin winning Leinster Minor and U21 titles this year, we feel we can develop and grow the potential within Dublin hurling,” said the Cork man.
Potential struggles without leadership. Cunnigham had gotten rid of two of his biggest leaders.
He’d dug his own grave, and predictably, 2017 was a disaster.
Pat Gilroy has brought the pair back in, however, according to reports in The Herald on Tuesday, and this could be one of the most important decisions he makes.
Kelly and McCaffrey have been there, they’ve done that. They are both under the age of 30, and have plenty to offer on the field of play.
Their contribution off the field might be the most important of all, however.
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