4 days ago
Dean Rock reveals Dublin's two biggest foes in ‘most evenly contested All-Ireland in recent memory' if they beat Armagh
PREDICTING a winner in the Sam Maguire race is more difficult than it has been for years, according to Dean Rock.
But the eight-time All-Ireland winner reckons a victory over Armagh this weekend will solidify Dublin's place among a trio of front-runners to land the game's biggest prize on July 27.
2
Dublin beat Galway to bounce back from losing in Leinster SFC
Credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
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Dean Rock, former Dublin footballer, pictured at the launch of EirGrid's Community Heroes campaign at Ballymun Kickhams GAA Club in Dublin
Credit: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
There were fears in the capital that the glory days had come to an end when they suffered a shock Leinster SFC semi-final loss to Meath.
Nevertheless, the
Championship
last
summer
.
Despite the ending of their 15-year unbeaten streak on the provincial stage,
Rock
, 35, was not overly concerned about the potential of his former team-mates to recover.
The ex-Dublin forward, who
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'Naturally I knew there'd be a massive response from the Meath game and they'd have learned a huge amount from it, in terms of the kickouts and just not letting a team get as big a run on you like Meath did, particularly in that first half.
'All the things coming out of the camp were that players were returning from injury, they'd learned a huge amount from the game and it was all kind of set up for them to really upset Galway in many ways.
'Galway would never have been a team that
Dublin
would have feared, particularly in recent years.
'Of course they had the win last year, but Dublin's
record
over Galway has been quite good and a lot of those players would have played against Galway quite regularly.
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'I was quite confident that they'd go down there and get a result. But the big thing for Dublin is consistency this year, so that would be the big question mark going into the Armagh game.
'If Dublin were to back that up with another win then you're really thinking of Dublin as massive, massive All-Ireland contenders.'
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Rock expects a strong challenge from a
And his belief in Donegal's ability to go all the way was also not entirely eroded by
Asked about Dublin's chances of being the last men standing for the tenth time in 15 seasons, Rock continued: 'If they back it up with a win, I think absolutely it's themselves, Kerry and
'Obviously there are question marks over Donegal after last weekend, but if Dublin were to win this weekend I think they'd be the top three in my eyes.'
REACHING THEIR PEAK
While he places Armagh slightly further down the pecking order, Rock warned that the reigning champions have yet to peak.
He said: 'There's plenty of evidence so far this year that the new rules suit what they're all about and I'm sure they're
saving
up their best for Championship.
'When you win an All-Ireland, you get that bit of confidence about yourself and you're kind of not afraid of the big games any more.
'You relish
the challenge
of playing in the All-Ireland series and I think Armagh got a huge monkey off their back last year in actually just winning the All-Ireland.
'I think you'll start to see the best of those players from now. Coming back to
'If they go up to Croke Park and beat Dublin, it'd be a big statement for them.
'In many ways, it's very strange for All-Ireland champions to be completely written off or not really talked about as in the top maybe three or four teams.
'They're kind of maybe just a little bit outside that in many people's eyes, but their squad has probably developed a little bit throughout the league as well.
'They've got plenty of options and a huge amount of pace up front. They have a lot going for them and I'd expect to see the best of them in the
next
couple of weeks.'
'It's the most evenly contested All-Ireland probably in recent memory. There are so many teams who have the potential to win it."
A sense of novelty will be attached to the Group 4 fixture on Sunday at Croke Park as it will mark the first Championship clash of Dublin and Armagh since the
Sky
Blues won a qualifier in 2010.
Several league games, such as the Orchard's victory back in March, have been contested since. The sides, managed by former Na Fianna team-mates
Dessie Farrell
and Kieran McGeeney, have crossed paths regularly on the challenge-match circuit too.
One of those encounters was a source of considerable controversy in 2015, when a fracas caused Dubs defender Davy Byrne to be hospitalised with facial injuries.
But Rock insisted: 'In the last couple of years, there could have been six, seven challenge matches against Armagh so there would be a lot of familiarity there and understanding with each other.
'There has been probably kind of a healthy rivalry in many ways built up, not in competitive games but off the field and different things. That's just the
relationship
with Dessie and Kieran.'
OPEN FIELD
As for the identity of this year's All-Ireland winners, Rock will not be too surprised if there are new entries in his ranking of the leading contenders as the Championship gradually reaches a climax.
The three-time All-Star added: 'Arguably seven or eight teams on any given day could all beat each other.
'It's the most evenly contested All-Ireland probably in recent memory. There are so many teams who have the potential to win it.
'Even at this stage last year, you were probably only looking at Dublin, Donegal, Kerry. I don't think anyone would have seen maybe Armagh or Galway being an eventual winner.
'But this year in particular, there are so many teams that can win it.
'Even Tyrone now are massively back in the mix.
'Mayo may have slipped but Mayo being Mayo, they could go and get a result this weekend, you just don't know.
'But that's how I'd see it. It's just kind of on any given day and whoever gets momentum at the right time will ultimately become All-Ireland champions.
'It makes for an exciting couple of weeks.'
l DEAN ROCK was speaking at the launch of EirGrid's 'Community Heroes' campaign at Ballymun Kickhams
GAA
club. EirGrid, Ireland's national grid operator, is shining a spotlight on the volunteers who power the GAA community in Ireland
