Ryan O'Dwyer believes Michéal Donoghue is a "brilliant appointment" for Dublin and that he can make them realistic contenders for a Leinster hurling title.
The ex-Galway manager was announced on Monday as Mattie Kenny's successor on a three-year term with Noel Larkin, Francis Forde and former Westmeath boss Shane O'Brien as his selectors.
"I'm excited by this," former Dublin hurler O'Dwyer, who was a coach with Down this year, told RTÉ's Game On.
"For me anyway, it came out of left field. There were other names being thrown around but when I heard the news I thought it was brilliant for the Dublin hurlers.
"He does have a lot of work on his hands to build up the confidence in the team from last year, just getting beaten on score difference to qualify for the All-Ireland series.
"So there might be a confidence issue there at the start but I have no doubt that the experience he will bring to it, Francis Forde, Noel Larkin and Shane O'Brien, I think it's a great management team.
"They [Donoghue, Larkin and Forde] have worked together in Galway and won an All-Ireland. When Shane O'Brien was manager of Westmeath he had Noel Larkin in as coach so there is a good working relationship there as well."
O'Dwyer, who was a senior panellist with his native Tipperary before lining out with the Dubs, was on the last Sky Blues team to win Leinster, nine years ago .
Kilkenny beat them by nine points in the 2021 decider, the only final of Kenny's four-year reign.
"It's not going to be a case that Michéal Donoghue comes in and flicks a switch and all of a sudden they are contesting Leinster again," he said. "You have to be realistic about it.
"If you're setting goals at the start of this year for Dublin, it's not going to be about winning an All-Ireland or even Leinster, though they could win a Leinster.
"It will be about holding your own in the league and try out as many players as you can because I think that's what has been lacking the last couple of years.
"I know you had the Covid situation the last couple of years, you might not have been able to play them or things were rushed, but I think they only used 23 players in the league last year.
"For me, if you're developing a team you need to be introducing lads the whole time, and that's what the league is for. To find your best 22, 23 for the championship and you do that by playing 40 players in the league.
"A realistic goal for the championship is to get to a Leinster final. I don't think it's out of Dublin's reach and if the bounce of a ball went their way they could have beenc [there] this year.
"I don't think they are a million miles away from it. I just think it's about getting confidence and knowing your team when you get to championship."
For O'Dwyer, Donoghue's first order of business should be trying to ensure Eoghan O'Donnell is in his squad rather than Dessie Farrell's in 2023.
The 26-year-old Whitehall man captained the hurlers this season but was a surprise addition to the football panel after the small-ball campaign ended.
"The glaring question is whether Eoghan O'Donnell is going to hurl for Dublin," said O'Dwyer.
"He's an amazing athlete and has an amazing temperament. Even at a young age he was a natural leader.
"He [Donoghue] was announced as manager this morning, if he didn't ring him by lunchtime today I would be surprised."
