ST SYLVESTER’S are among a number of local clubs looking forward to the new AFL season with a new look management team as the Malahide club appointed former Roscommon boss Robbie Brennan.
He will work with Dave Clare and Cathal O’Donnell for the 2014 campaign, taking over the reins from Gabriel Bannigan after a four-year stint.
Brennan has had a couple of meetings with his predecessor since taking on the role and will hope to build on a series of strong league performances, hoping to translate that into a push for the championship in the coming years.
He takes over a side that only finished their 2013 season on December 12 with a league final defeat at the hands of St Brigid’s but, after initial sessions with the panel, he is enthusiastic about the challenge ahead.
“It’s still early days and it is going well so far,” he told GazetteSport. “It’s obviously a big club and I was eager to get involved with a great history and tradition and once I knew there was an opportunity to come over, I jumped at it straightaway.
“There’s good young players coming through, guys with the Dublin Under-21s and the seniors as well. It’s a right mix but the age profile is definitely there. We are looking to develop as much as we can.
“Everyone will get a run over the next couple of weeks and we’ll have a good look at everybody but absolutely the potential is there.”
His side meet Thomas Davis on February 16 in their first AFL1 outing and Brennan says that it will be great to see the team in competitive action.
Currently, his side is likely to be without the likes of Nigel Dunne and Eugene Keating due to intercounty commitments while it remains to be seen if Eoin Fanning and Gary Sweeney will be released for club duty from the Dubs’ panel.
John Coughlan is also carrying a knock but Brennan says that his injury list – unlike previous years – is not as “dramatic” as recent years.
Squeezing the best out of a talented panel, therefore, is the next key task.
“The general feeling is that while they have reached league finals and won it, they have just been a touch off in the championship. We’re there or thereabouts. We just need to find the extra few per cent to push over the edge [in the championship]. In Dublin football, there are a lot of good teams around. It does come down to what happens on the day. We’re not far off from achieving big things.”
