Jim Gavin pictured with his Dublin players after their last defeat in Croke Park - the 2017 Allianz Football League Final against Kerry.
By John Harrington
Tipperary football manager, Liam Kearns, believes the potential history of becoming the first team to win five All-Irelands in a row could weigh heavily on the Dublin footballers this year.
He still makes them favourites to win the All-Ireland Final, but as someone who witnessed Kerry fall just short of doing the five-in-a-row in 1982 he knows pressure can do strange things to even the most talented of teams.
“Yeah I think Dublin are the team to beat,” said Kearns. “The only thing I would say is I was around when Kerry lost the five-in-a-row. I got onto the panel myself as a sub after that for the three-in-a-row, I was carried by the greats there for a couple of years, I was one of those extras.
“But, like, I would have never seen Kerry beaten with that five-in-a-row team and I certainly didn't think Offaly would beat them. I came out of that game in shock. So the weight of history in my opinion beat them.
“The further this thing goes and the more talk there is about it, then the weight of history is going to weigh heavily on Dublin. Now, the problem is, is there a team out there to take advantage if they are feeling the weight of history? That's the big thing.
“As I said it did do strange things many years ago in the case of Kerry, so we'll just see. That's the challenge for Dublin, can they handle the weight of history, can they handle the circumstances.
“They've done one thing they didn't compete in the Division 1 league as they did in previous years, they'd won it whereas they certainly didn't seem to take it as seriously. That was a nod to the weight of history because they changed what their approach has been for the last three or four years.
“That's interesting but I think we're grasping at straws really if we think that's an indication they might slip up. I think they're the team to beat yeah.”
Tipperary football team manager, Liam Kearns.
Dublin manager Jim Gavin always gives the impression of being totally in control of his emotions, but Kearns believes even he and his most experienced players may be slightly rattled when the five-in-a-row talk really cranks up later in the year.
“I'm sure they'll avoid talking about it in the dressing-room and all of that but they just won't be able to help it because the media will drive it up, people on the street will drive it up and everybody will be talking about it.
“They're only human. Even Jim Gavin will surely feel some pressure in relation to it. He gives the impression of a man that never feels pressure ever but you'd imagine even he is going to feel the pressure this year. But I wouldn't bet against them.”
Kearns names Tyrone, Mayo, and Kerry as teams who will genuinely believe they can beat Dublin in Championship football this year, but thinks their most dangerous challengers will actually be Kevin Walsh's Galway.
“Galway for me if they could get everybody right and improve a bit on last year and maybe evolve a little bit more, they're the team for me.
“They have good forwards and they have good ball-players all over the field and they're young, they've a young profile. Galway have the pedigree and they have that tradition, if they get to an All-Ireland semi-final or final, and they definitely have an awful lot of good young players, we've played them now in challenge matches, they have fellas there, he's even found three or four of them this year in the league.
“He nearly got to a league final with Comer, without Conroy, without I think Duggan is injured, really good players and he nearly managed to get to a league final. But it's still Dublin's to lose.”
