Brogan back in the frame for Kingdom clash

Footballer of the Year Alan Brogan expects to make his return from injury in the Dubs’ Allianz League opener against Kerry, a game that will be shown live on Setanta Sports.

Brogan, who underwent a minor knee operation before Christmas, aggravated the problem in the annual Blue Stars challenge match on New Year’s Day and has been out of action since.

However, the decision to sit out the O’Byrne Cup was a precaution and he expects to resume full training next week.

The three-time GAA All Star is confident that he will be ready for the repeat of last year’s memorable All-Ireland final, which will be played under the lights in Croke Park on February 4, despite sitting out training for most of January.

“I just had a little bit of a pain in it at the start of the year,” Brogan told www.gaa.ie.

“Pat (Gilroy, the Dublin manager), in fairness, said to take a couple of weeks off and make sure it’s all cleared up because there is a hectic few weeks ahead of us so there won’t be much break in between games. It’s important to try and get it right.

“It should be OK (for the Kerry game), I haven’t done as much training as the lads and that might go against me but we will see what happens.”

Inevitably, the Dublin-Kerry rematch grabbed all the attention when the Allianz Football League Round 1 fixtures were announced, and Brogan believes it’s the best possible way to start a new season.

“I think it’s a great opener for both teams,” he adds. “I think it’s about performing on the day. It’s a new season.

“I’m sure both managers will be looking to blood a few young guys in the hope that they might come through come Championship time. I think that’s what it’s more about.

“I think all Pat Gilroy will be looking for is a performance off Dublin. I don’t think Kerry, necessarily, will be looking for any revenge after the All-Ireland last year. It’ll be more about getting their season off to a good start as well.”

While the Dublin-Kerry legend reached its zenith in the 1970s, September’s All-Ireland final was the potential starting point for a modern-day renewal of the most storied rivalry in Gaelic football.

“I think the good teams will always have rivalries with each other,” Brogan says. “We’ve had a couple of great battles with Tyrone over the years and Kerry the same. We’ve also played Cork a number of times.

“I think all the top teams will have those little rivalries going on. There is no question that there is a bit of a rivalry going on with Dublin and Kerry.

“I think it’s more of case that you are playing against the best team in the country so you know you have to perform. That’s the challenge rather than the green and gold jersey.

“It was the same with Tyrone for us for a number of years. They were the best team in the country and we tried to pick up our game for them.

“But certainly when you play against the likes of Kerry, they are the aristocrats of Gaelic football and I think any team playing against them is going to be at their best.”

Meanwhile, Brogan’s younger brother, Bernard, who has been on holiday in Australia for the last two months, arrived back in the country this morning and will resume training with the squad next week, but will miss out on the opening rounds of the Allianz League.

“He’s back next week, but he’s been away for the last few months so I don’t think he’ll be featuring that much. He has a bit of work to do to get himself right.

“I’m sure he will feature at some stage over the League but I wouldn’t say in the first couple of games.”

Photo: Dublin’s Alan Brogan, left, and Kerry’s Kieran Donaghy, were in Dublin today at the launch of the 2012 schedule, which also includes a new 6 part documentary “The Club” which follows the fortunes of the Round Towers ladies football club over a season. Setanta Sports also announced that Paul Galvin will appear on two episodes of iTalkSport on February 5th and 12th.