By Séamus Leonard - @RTESundayGame
Dublin begin their Championship campaign on Sunday with the general consensus being that they are the biggest threat to Cork’s hopes of regaining the All-Ireland Championship.
The only problem for the Dubs is that it has been the Rebels that denied them at their last two critical junctures: last year’s All-Ireland semi-final and this year’s Allianz League Division 1 final.
But the Leesiders are a problem for another day, and the Dubs must concentrate on their provincial obligations first. The Metropolitans have been boosted by the return of Rory O’Carroll after he missed the entire league campaign due to work reasons.
The Kilmacud Crokes clubman slots backs into the full-back position he performed so admirably in last year. James McCarthy will make his Championship debut at wing-back, while Alan Brogan starts up top on the right.
The Dubs will be at a disadvantage as they have yet to feature this summer, but their excellent league displays should hold them in good stead.
Laois return to action a fortnight after they struggled past Longford. The O’Moore County were blessed to emerge from a game their midland rivals effectively kicked away with a total of 16 wides.
The windy conditions were tricky for both sides on the day in Portlaoise, but if anything the gale was more of a mitigating factor for Longford and they may well have progressed had the elements been more favourable.
But to the victor go the spoils and now Justin McNulty’s men have their day out at Headquarters. The will be hoping for a repeat on the 2003 Leinster semi-final when they overcame the Dubs on the way to a historic provincial win.
McNulty has been busy talking up the Dubs this week, but he will have needed to have been working more on what went wrong two weeks ago. He has named the same XV, which means Padraig Clancy and Donie Kingston have to settle for places on the bench again.
The Dubs could easily find it difficult to get going on Sunday, but you would imagine after 70 minutes they would have just enough to make it to the last four.
Verdict: Dublin
