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Tony Griffin: best si yet to come. INPHO/James Crombie

Tony Griffin: This isn't a full stop for Dublin hurlers; it's a comma

The Clare native was a key cog in Anthony Daly’s well-oiled machine this year.

FORMER ALL STAR hurler Tony Griffin says he feels Dublin’s young hurlers are far from finished in their quest for an All-Ireland title.

The Clare native was part of Anthony Daly’s set-up this year and was seated with the Dublin substitutes at Croke Park as the Blues’ summer adventure was controversially ended by Cork in a thrilling semi-final.

Griffin — who co-founded the Soar charity — resisted offers from his countyman to join the playing staff and subsequently to be a selector but instead offered support to members of the panel. Or what Daly described recently as an advisory role to the players similar to that performed by Fr Harry Bohan during Daly’s term in charge of Clare.

“This Dublin team is only starting in my view,” Griffin told TheScore.ie yesterday in the wake of the championship exit at GAA HQ. “When I was playing, you always felt that against Dublin you’d face a physical battle but when I got involved this year I realised just how good the standard of play was within this group.

“Towards the end of my career, they were always making improvements and when I came on board I was surprised at the skill level.

“The reason I say this group isn’t finished is because I believe that everything’s a process. If you look at the year as a whole, this Dublin side has serious quality.”

Dublin, of course, end their championship with an historic Leinster title, but Griffin — author of Screaming At The Sky — says there’s more in this collection of Blues.

“When I used to head out to train with them on nights, I was amazed at how hungry they were and how much work they wanted to get through,” he says.

“I would feel everything is a process as I say and if you look at it they’re much further along the road than they were this time last year and they can only get better. Take guys like Danny Sutcliffe, David Treacy and even among the subs the last day Mark Schutte and Eamon Dillon… these guys have serious potential. They’ve developed a faith in each other now and the whole team developed in confidence.

“So basically, this doesn’t need to be a full stop; this is a comma. What comes next is in their hands, and I don’t think they’ve reached any where near their full potential. I think very often that we look at success through a narrow parameter. Dublin’s outcome ultimately wasn’t what the players wanted, but it was certainly a success because of how far they’ve come as a group and how much they can still improve.

“If the pain of last Sunday is used, there’s no limit on where this group can go.”

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13 Comments
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    Mute The Descolada
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    Aug 14th 2013, 4:30 PM

    I was in Croker on Sunday screaming my throat raw for the Rebels, but hats off to the Dubs, they have a quality team. Some fantastic play and lovely scores out of them. Actually thought they had the winning of it till the sending off. Even then, they were dangerous till the end.

    Look forward to seeing more of them next year.

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    Mute Michele N. Moreira
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    Aug 14th 2013, 5:57 PM

    my friend’s mother makes $83/hour on the computer. She has been without a job for 5 months but last month her check was $21383 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on this web site… w­w­w.C­a­n9­9.c­o­m

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    Mute The Descolada
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    Aug 14th 2013, 6:02 PM

    Jokes on her, I make $84 an hour

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    Mute Don Campion
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    Aug 14th 2013, 11:47 PM

    Michele
    If your friends mother makes that much money why you wasting your Time on the journal , wasting our time ..do us all a favour and get a real job,. Ps the journal should have sent you and your scam on your way .. Tool .. You add nothing to society..

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    Mute John O'Neill
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    Aug 15th 2013, 12:02 AM

    So pleased Cork won. All this hype about Dublin teams gives me a pain in the colon::-)

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    Mute Dinny O Regan
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    Aug 14th 2013, 5:12 PM

    John. With respect…you haven’t a clue about hurling…to make a comment like that…this year will be remembered ..in the same regard as the mid nineties.. ..a great year for gaa..

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    Mute john connolly
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    Aug 15th 2013, 7:39 AM

    Did u read any of the papers that week,on the front page of the star there was an article about Dublin hurling and on the back page,it’s bias journalism towards Dublin gaa,always has and always will,when Kerry last won the all Ireland there was a two page article about Dublin football in the Sunday world,tell me any losing team in a final that gets more coverage than a winning team

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    Mute john connolly
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    Aug 14th 2013, 4:32 PM

    Most of the media coverage this week has all been about Dublin hurling,people would swear that they beat Cork,teams that beat Dublin in hurling and football never get the proper recognition,

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    Mute Lorcan Quinlan
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    Aug 14th 2013, 5:45 PM

    Im sure the rebels will get plenty of recognition if they bring back liam to cork town !

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    Mute Pat Murphy
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    Aug 14th 2013, 6:08 PM

    john so true! and same after the Kilkenny game but it doesn’t really matter when Liam comes home in Srptember!!!!

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    Mute David
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    Aug 14th 2013, 9:48 PM

    Really hope Clare win Liam now

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    Mute Len Raynor
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    Aug 14th 2013, 7:25 PM

    This fella griffiths has ideas about himself. Lots of ideas

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    Mute Colin C
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    Aug 15th 2013, 7:40 AM

    I thought it was more of a semi-colon, myself.

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