There won’t be too many neutrals rooting for Kilmacud Crokes this weekend - but Shane Cunningham couldn’t care less.
One of the largest GAA clubs in the country, their acquisition of Galway’s Shane Walsh last year drew much scorn on both the Crokes and Walsh, with his native Kilkerrin-Clonberne left without their star player.
In the absence of Paul Mannion through injury, Crokes have hardly missed a beat with Walsh in tow as they’ve progressed to a second successive All-Ireland final, looking to go one better against Glen on Sunday having been dramatically edged out by Kilcoo last year.
But the backdrop of being a Dublin superclub that has snapped up the services of one of the game’s outstanding talents means that Cunningham doesn’t believe they’ll get much credit beyond Stillorgan and Dublin if he’s the man that lifts the Andy Merrigan Cup on Sunday.
“I’d say probably no, absolutely not,” said the captain. “But does that bother me? No, absolutely not.
“I just care about winning and maybe what your close family and friends think about it is what motivates me and if anyone else has a view on it they’re entitled to it and it doesn’t affect me.”
He added: “I'd say there's probably more clubs than not [in Dublin] that have a county player from outside their club or whatever. I understand as well that it's Shane Walsh, and the year he had. Himself and [David] Clifford were going for the Footballer of the Year.
“It was obviously going to gain an awful lot of talk and an awful lot of commentary when he joined us. When he kicked another point in the All-Ireland final, I knew that he was coming to us and I was going, 'Oh God, this is going to cause havoc!'
“But I think it's very normal for players to join clubs in the county they're working in. But I understand the commentary on it as well.”
However, he challenges the notion Kilmacud set out to hoover up the best talent coming to the capital. Unlike many clubs in Dublin, they set a high threshold for players seeking to join and are known to have turned away high profile inter-county players in the past.
“Shane Walsh approached the club and wanted to join it wasn’t just a case of he’s one of the best footballers in the country and come on in.
“He had to speak to Robbie (Brennan, manager) first of all, he had to speak to the football committee, the executive committee in the club, if they were happy that he was going to fit into the team and the club and he was going to offer support to the juvenile part of the club as well and support the club as a whole, then all well and good.
“From a players’ point of view, we were happy for him to come in as well. That was taken into account. As long as Shane came in and had the right attitude and was working hard, that’s all we cared about.
“But yeah, it’s not just a case of someone wants to join and we invite them in. They do have to fit the criteria of the club culture.
“Dublin itself obviously, with it being the capital, attracts an awful lot of people from an employment view and I think that's exactly what happened with Shane. We're not going out poaching players, we're not going out advertising the fact that we want Shane Walsh.”
Yet, there’s no playing down the fact that they are a club of considerable resources.
“I can understand where that comes from, like we’re a big south Dublin club as well,” Cunningham conceded.
“People say 5,000 members. You probably wouldn’t understand it til you’re down in the club week in, week out.
“A lot of people come in from the country and their sons or daughters end up playing for the club and they often touch on it, how homely it feels, how much of a community spirit there is.
“Because Glenalbyn House, there is so much going on aside from Gaelic, camogie, hurling – it really does feel like a community down there. I don’t think people understand it until they are part of the club.”
But for all that, their two All-Irelands (1995 and 2009) could be described as a meagre return. They’ve now won four county titles and three Leinsters since that last All-Ireland 14 years ago, when they saw off Crossmaglen Rangers on a day that left a lasting impression on a teenaged Cunningham.
“I was 14 or 15, had school the next day. I can remember my dad being down the clubhouse and my mother trying to get me home for school the next day.
“I had been out on the pitch afterwards. Those were the days where the fans could run out on the pitch.
“I can remember being there with my friends, looking up to see Johnny Magee lifting the trophy. Just dreaming of being part of a senior panel that might one day get there.
“I didn’t even care if I played; I just wanted to be part of the overall senior panel. I looked up to them so much at the time.
“Going to school the next day a bit tired is the memory I have.”
Meanwhile, Dublin star Paul Mannion is “running out of time” as Sunday’s AIB All-Ireland club final draws nearer, says his Kilmacud Crokes captain Shane Cunningham.
Mannion has not played since the Dublin quarter-final win over Cuala last September, a game in which he sustained an ankle injury that subsequently required surgery.
He has resumed some training of late but Cunningham suggested that he is likely to sit out the decider against Derry champions Glen, having also missed last year’s All-Ireland final defeat to Kilcoo with a knee injury.
Cunningham said: “I'd love if Paul was playing. He's running out of time is the honest answer. The injury he got, on the night against Cuala, we didn't think it was that serious, then he went for the x-ray and it turned out to be quite a serious injury.
“We're doing absolutely everything we can to get him fit and he'll be given up to the last minute to prove his fitness. If he can play, even if he can play a small part, we'd be delighted but he's running out of time at the minute.”
Cunningham added that Mannion, who is returning to the Dublin panel this year having sat out the last two seasons, has yet to take a full part in training.
“No, he hasn't trained fully. He has been doing bits and bobs but in terms of playing a full match, or a full training, he hasn't taken part in anything like that so far.
"He has put an awful lot of hard work into his rehab. I don't think going in with Dublin is going to affect his mindset and whether he'll risk playing on Sunday at all, to be honest.”
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