Another chapter in the biggest rivalry in Gaelic Games will be written on Sunday when Dublin and Kerry go head-to-head in the All-Ireland Football Championship Semi-Finals! Ahead of the game, GAA.ie speaks with the Dublin panel as Dubs' manager Jim Gavin and midfielder Denis Bastick talk about the challenge ahead when they meet the Kingdom and talk about how their preparation has focused on their own levels of performance as they look to reach the All-Ireland Football Final on September 18th. Join the conversation online in relation to Sunday's Dublin vs Kerry match by using the hashtag #DUBvKER or get in touch with @OfficialGAA
By Cian O'Connell
It was a scary and sobering afternoon for Dublin on August 3, 2009 - Denis Bastick remembers it well. A much anticipated All Ireland SFC Quarter-Final ended in a particularly painful 1-24 to 1-7 defeat at Croke Park.
Seven years later Dublin are now looking for a fourth successive Championship triumph over rivals Kerry. "After 17 points of a defeat you'd laugh I suppose, wouldn't you?" Bastick replies when asked if somebody had suggested back then that Dublin would be looking to embark on such a winning run against Kerry.
"But that just shows how fickle sport is, how it can change, and how you're only as good as your last game. Things change and teams change and stats change and stuff like that.
"It's a case of where that's in the past, it's there, and it'll eventually be where there'll be no-one left from '09 that'll be going on so there'll be no connection there."
Have the subsequent victories over Kerry made up for what happened in 2009? "Ah, no, that's ingrained your heart, you know?", Bastick remarks.
"And it doesn't and it won't. We often talk about '09, but we've moved on, they've moved on. But you don't forget about those things and I'm sure they haven't forgot about last year's final or the 2013 semi-final. You don't forget and you don't forgive either. But you just have to move on."
That is what Bastick, 35, has done, claiming All Ireland medals in 2011, 2013, and 2015. Following last September's success he quickly opted to return for another inter-county campaign.
Referee Pat McEnaney, Denis Bastick, and Colm Cooper during the 2009 All Ireland SFC Quarter Final.
"You don’t get time to soul search, training starts back in early December and you’re either on board or you’re not," Bastick admits.
"For me and someone in my position, I don’t have the luxury of taking a few months out or trying to get back in. For me, I’ve looked at previous seasons and it was an easy decision for me knowing that it’s easier for me to continually train rather than take a break and try to play catch up.
"That doesn’t work for me and some of the time I’ve had injuries that was the case for me. So this year I was in full health and it was a case of, yeah, let’s get back on the bike and go again. I played the first game, hopefully I’ll play the last game."
How much has the Templeogue Synge Street clubman watched Kerry throughout the summer? "Not very much if I’m being honest," Bastick responds.
"For me, you spend a lot of time in the camp and anytime you’re outside of that you need to unwind or do other things. You can’t focus on certain opposition.
"I know there’s good opposition on the other side of the draw as well, but you just have to focus on yourself and any downtime you get try to enjoy that and not be caught up on who you may face down the line.
"Obviously at the start of the year it was always a case of Leinster v Munster at this stage so it’s a known fact that if both teams won that we’d meet at this stage so it is a fixture that you may have known about early on in the year and here we are now, so let’s see what happens."
A fascinating match beckons at GAA headquarters.
