Seán Bugler keen to keep standards high in Dublin

​By Paul Keane

We're only three rounds into the Allianz NFL campaign and already new Dublin manager Ger Brennan has handed out a whopping 10 League debuts.

Another 46 players have featured competitively for the Sky Blues in 2026, between the O'Byrne Cup and League.

The scale of the talent search is significant with Brennan revealing after Saturday's Division 1 win over Monaghan, Dublin's first in the campaign, that he has assessed 164 players in total between training, trials and competitive games.

Overcoming Monaghan with a strong finale was an indicator of progress though the real acid test is coming this Saturday evening, when Dublin return to Croke Park to face League and All-Ireland title holders Kerry.

Brennan stated last weekend that nobody involved with Dublin is writing 2026 off as a 'transition' year, despite all the newcomers, and that they can still be competitive, a point experienced forward Seán Bugler is also keen to stress.

"Yeah, 100 percent I fully believe that and as a group we all believe that we can win an All-Ireland this year," said Bugler, speaking at a Dublin GAA media event.

"We have a lot of new lads there that are kind of finding their feet and really pushing on. For example, Joe Quigley last weekend made his debut, came on and scored a goal and won the game for us.

"As a group, we know the potential we have inside us, it's just about showing it week-in, week-out and going after that consistency which is probably something we've struggled with over the last couple of years."

Whilst Brennan was assessing all his options over winter, and running those trials and challenge games, Bugler was recovering from ankle surgery.

"I hurt the ankle last year, I missed the Leinster semi-final, against Meath, so I knew I had to get the operation then," he explained. "I played on and got it done then after the club season."

Bugler wasn't in a position to start Dublin's first two League games of 2026, against Donegal and Mayo, as he returned to full fitness but lined out for the first time last weekend.

After a number of strong seasons in blue, he had plenty of credit in the bank with the new management.

"I'm happy enough where I'm at but I still know there's a lot more in me," said Bugler of his form. "Especially come the summer time, I know I need to perform better in bigger games so that's what I'm going after this year. But yeah, I've had a decent last couple of years and I'm happy with where I'm at."

The 27-year-old sales rep from the St Oliver Plunkett Eoghan Ruadh club isn't just looking after himself anymore though. He's an experienced player, a three-time All-Ireland winner, and has acknowledged that with new players streaming into the group, he has a responsibility to lead by example and, when required, put an arm around shoulders too.

"Yeah, definitely," he nodded. "We've lost a lot of high-profile players over the last number of years. So the onus is on my age group to step up now, like myself and Paddy Small and Evan Comerford and Lee Gannon, all these boys, to step up and lead by example both on the field and off it.

"There are a lot of new lads there that need to see what the standard is like. And if you drop off for a single session, it can have a damaging effect on the group so every session you need to be at it."

Brennan reminded everyone through his public comments after the Round 2 League defeat to Mayo about those standards that need to be met by Dublin players.

"Ger didn't mean anything bad by it," said Bugler, who sniped three points from play against Monaghan. "He just wanted to get the best out of the group. He knows the potential that's there. It was a nice wake-up call for the group. It was a nice wake-up call for me and a lot of other senior lads as well because we know that with all these new lads, we have to set a standard that they're trying to hit in order to be successful in the summer.

"With Ger, it was something we discussed internally and since then our training sessions have been through the roof in terms of aggression. It's nice, it's good, we're in a good place."

As for this weekend's meeting with Kerry, Bugler can't wait. The Kingdom have taken three points from three games so far.

"They've unbelievable footballers all across the park," said Bugler. "Athletically around the middle third as well, they're really, really good with some big players. Two-pointers is obviously a big thing they went after and they executed them a lot in last year's All-Ireland final as well. They're All-Ireland champions for a reason and the rest of the pack need to chase them.

"So yeah, we're buzzing as a group, really looking forward to it. There's a nice rivalry between Kerry and Dublin over the last number of years and that has carried on. We got a good win against them last year down there but we know it's going to be a completely different test this weekend."