Danny Sutcliffe adamant Dublin moving in right direction
Danny Sutcliffe pictured at the Kelloggs Cul Camps launch.
By Paul Keane
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After just 10 minutes of Dublin's Allianz Hurling League quarter-final tie against Tipperary, Pat Gilroy's side led by 0-9 to 0-1.
Exactly a month earlier, at nearby Parnell Park they played All-Ireland champions Galway and outscored them by 1-10 to 1-7 from late in the first-half until full-time.
There were moments of inspiration in the wins over Laois and Antrim too, all of which has convinced Danny Sutcliffe that they are moving in the right direction in Gilroy's first season as manager.
"If our pressure, tackling and intensity is not there, and the speed that we want to do things, if that starts slowing or we let it drop then we're in trouble," said Sutcliffe. "But we know what it is and if that's there for the full 70 minutes, we will back ourselves against anyone."
Gilroy's ultimate aim, which he stated after taking over as Ger Cunningham's successor, is that they'll compete among the top-four teams on a regular basis.
Former All-Star Sutcliffe, a key member of the group again after two seasons away, is confident that they're getting there. "You look at the start of the Tipperary game, if we can maintain that for a full game that's what we're looking to do," he said.
"It's high intensity, high pressure and moving the ball through the hands very quickly. It's no real secret. Galway do it, everyone does it. It's pressing high and turning over the ball. So there's no real secret but you do need to do it for a full game."
The time for experimentation is running out for Dublin because their next competitive game is a May 13 Leinster Championship opener against Kilkenny at Parnell Park.
Wing-forward Sutcliffe is adamant that the team are, at the very least, physically ready for it. "We definitely are," he said. "You have to take into account that we had a game every week and we were training heavy enough during those weeks as well. "The end goal was always to be prepared for May, wherever that took us through the League.
Danny Sutcliffe has made a welcome return to action with Dublin.
"For us, it was just about getting through the League, building slowly through the League. Because obviously you have a couple of different groups on the team.
"You have young lads, like Cillian Costello and Paddy Smyth - who had a brilliant League campaign - and you have to get everything together in a short space of time.
"We just have to prepare ourselves now in the best way possible because Kilkenny are going to be a massive challenge. They're going really well."
Gilroy, the All-Ireland winning Dublin football manager in 2011, should have the Cuala contingent to call upon shortly. Sutcliffe reckons the style of those players who won back to back AIB All-Ireland club titles will suit the county team down to the ground.
"You've seen the type of players that are coming in; Jake Malone, Cian O'Callaghan, a very versatile type of player," said Sutcliffe.
"Cian's obviously been there a few years, David Treacy is coming back in. I think what Pat's going to love about them is they work extremely hard, I've never seen a team tackle as well as Cuala did this year.
"When they don't have their hand in, the hurl never touches the helmet. They're everything that we want and then it's just maybe the finer details of us all getting together. But as a bunch of players to come in, they're really going to add to us."
The mindset of the Cuala players should also help Dublin to get to where Gilroy is trying to take them. "You're not trying to win a few games, you're trying to change a culture," said Sutcliffe. "Pat did it with the footballers. Even when we won Leinster a few years ago, it actually brought a whole generation in behind it.
"I noticed it myself in my own club, the amount of people that looked and saw something in front of them to aim towards. But it will take time. We're just trying to create good habits and to build that environment that will always be there."
