By Rory Houston - @RTESundayGame
Alan Brogan has described the opportunity to face Kerry in the All-Ireland final as a day he has dreamed about for his entire career.
<notforsyndication>Watch live coverage of Dublin v Kerry on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie (Island of Ireland) from 2.15pm on Sunday, 18 September.</notforsyndication>
Brogan has lost four semi-finals in his inter-county career, as well as two quarter-final defeats, and will finally see action in a final on Sunday in Croke Park.
He said: “It is a day I am really looking forward to. It is a day I have dreamed and dreamed about for years. Hopefully it will be an exciting and open match. I think ourselves and Kerry have the capability of dropping men back behind the ball when we want to.
“I think they are two good attacking teams with two good sets of forwards. For a neutral it is a very exciting prospect to look forward to. There is going to be huge hype and pressure, but I think all that the players can do is worry about the performance.
“There is no point dreaming of All-Ireland medals. If you get caught up in that sort of thing you will end up flopping on the day.”
Kerry stands in the way of Brogan and his colleagues and it is a formidable challenge for the Metropolitans.
Apart from the win over Cork in the Munster Championship, the Kingdom have coasted to the final and racked up some impressive scores of 1-23, 1-26, 1-15 and 1-20 twice on the way to doing so.
It could be argued that Kerry have yet to hit top gear this year, despite the average of 24 points a game, so Dublin’s task is certainly the most difficult they have faced.
But Brogan knows what his side are facing on Sunday at Headquarters.
He added: “They have been the dominant force for years and years. I know a lot of them personally. I have watched some of them play football for years and I have huge admiration for them. It is a huge uphill challenge to be honest, particularly with the form the Gooch looks to be coming into at the moment.
“He looks like he is firing on all cylinders. They have some special footballers. They play away throughout the year and then come August, when they get to Croke Park, they explode.”
It is a relief for Brogan to at least have the chance to win an All-Ireland medal after a decade with the Dubs.
The six-time Leinster champion revealed the extra training he has done to get to a level where he has undertaken to become part of the most potent attacking threats in the inter-county scene.
“I worked very hard over the last year or so in the gym and that to get that extra bit of strength. I’ve had no injuries at all this year and that has really helped as well.
“Bernard is getting a lot of attention so probably the other forwards have profited from that as well. It has been 10 years of hard work for myself and some of the other lads.
“I am enjoying it. When you think you only have two or three years left you have to enjoy it. I suppose that takes some of the pressure of it too. You stop worrying about how to win matches and just worry about your own performance.”
