Scully hoping to add more scores to his game in 2024

By John Harrington

January is a month for New Year resolutions and Niall Scully’s is to be a fixture in the Dublin starting XV by the time the championship swings around.

A starter in the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Finals when his hard-running and clever link play in the Dublin half-forward line was a key piece of their winning jigsaw, he had to make do with a bench-role in last year’s Final when he came on after 53 minutes for Cormac Costello.

For the last two years he’s been increasingly tasked with making an impact from the bench rather than handed a starting jersey.

But he hopes that if he can add more scores to his game then it’ll be much harder for Dessie Farrell to hold him in reserve.

“Throughout all my career, I probably wouldn't have been a regular scorer and scoring 1-5 a game, or five points a game, so definitely even last year, trying to add scores to my game was something that I was trying to do," says Scully. 

“Now obviously I didn’t do it. But again, definitely this year, it’s going to be something that I will be aiming towards.

“Just to try and contribute a bit more on the scoreboard, even if it’s two points a game, that’s where you kind of want to get to.

“The half forward, wing forward role is kind of evolved throughout the year of you are the work rate, you are up and down. You are making the tackles.

“But the good wing forwards these days are doing the tracking back, are doing the getting forward, and they are adding a couple of scores as well to the game.”

Scully’s attitude on the pitch is exemplary – he’s one of the hardest-working players in the game – and he’s not much different off the pitch.

Rather than sulk about finding himself on the subs bench for much of last year's championship campaign, he was determined to be the very best substitute he could be.

“I didn't find it too difficult," he says. "For me it was moreso, 'Right, this is where I'm at and this is where I want to be (in the future)'.

“So I just kind of saw it as a challenge and then I suppose as the season progressed it was moreso, 'Right, it looks like I'm going to be coming off the bench, how can I best impact the game when I'm coming in off the bench, rather being sulky about not starting'.

“At the end of the day, we all want to reach the goal of winning the All-Ireland. I suppose the best way I could do that and contribute to the team is to put my best foot forward when I come off the bench in the dying moments of the game.

“Over the years I was used to being taken off towards the end of games back then and you'd know what's coming off the bench is the most important thing, you know, staying in touch until the last 15 minutes and then you kind of release the bench and that's where we've seen the value and where the success has come from.”

Scully already seems zeroed in for the season ahead, but what about the Dublin team as a whole?

Winning last year’s All-Ireland Championship seemed to be a hugely emotionally charged achievement for the group, so after such a high will there be a dip? Will it be difficult to source the same level of motivation again in 2024?

“No, I don't think so,” says Scully. “I always find when you win the All-Ireland, after about 24 hours you're already processing what's next and how do you better yourself from last year.

“I think the hunger is still there. You can kind of see it even in the training so far, I don't think anything like that would be an issue.

“24 hours after an All-Ireland, you are....not that the happiness has left you straight away…but you are always kind of moving on and thinking, 'Right, when's the next one?'

“Because you always want to be performing in an All-Ireland final, you know, 83,000 it's the pinnacle of any inter-county career.”