Brogan’s run

In the meantime he spent his time on an aqua treadmill in an old folks’ home in Kiltipper. He learned the rudiments of Bikram yoga using an instructional video featuring Ryan Giggs. He launched an Easter training camp for children with Eamonn Fennell, fulfilled his share of public appearances for Dublin as everyone else got back to the simple business of playing ball, and waited for his knee to heal.

Meanwhile, Dublin figured out a way to live without him. They weren’t winning as many games, but the fact their scoring averages didn’t dip completely was a sideways compliment to the solidity of the attacking system they have built over the last two years. They prepared to play Laois with Brogan in mind to start, but on the night nobody noticed anything radically different about their style or shape in his absence. Instead of Brogan, Eoghan O’Gara slotted in and stayed close to goal, riding shotgun alongside Diarmuid Connolly. With Alan Brogan also missing, Tomas Quinn headed outfield and tugged the strings. “They worked to a system,” says Laois corner-back Cahir Healy, who marked Brogan in last year’s championship. “It was all very well-rehearsed. If someone was forced to move from a position, someone else would fill in. If Diarmuid Connolly, for example, went out the field, Kevin McManamon slotted into place. Whatever jersey is on a player’s back, he knows what’s expected of him in that position.”

Some days were better than others. When they played Donegal, Dublin finished with 2-16 having created five attacks in the opening four minutes and nine scoring chances in the first 20. Three of them could have been goals. Against Mayo they only managed eight points. Their final scoring tally across seven games was 8-88.

It wasn’t bad, but still represented their lowest return over the past three seasons. Those scores were spread across 15 players, also their lowest scoring spread since 2010: the 2010 league yielded 17 different scorers, 2011 produced 19. Fewer players might mean a more settled lineup. It might also mean that while Dublin trusted different players to make the same attacking system work without Brogan, they can’t manage for too long without him.

When Dublin played Laois last summer, Healy marked Brogan for the first time. Dublin bristled with menace, with better players making their attacking system sing. Connolly was there beside Brogan. Alan Brogan was their conductor out the field, tapping the baton. The difference was vividly clear. “(Bernard Brogan’s) very smart,” says Healy. “He never wastes time making a long run when he knows the ball isn’t going to come his way. He has the patience to time his run properly so he always gets the ball in a position to do damage.

“He has a brilliant brain for football. That’s why he’s so good. You’d see lots of fellas with huge talent, but they don’t have the brains to get into the position that would allow them do what Bernard does.

Every time he won a ball against me, he was easily within kicking range.” If the years of Dublin’s rebirth and regeneration could be condensed into a piece of time lapse footage, Brogan would be a constant presence in every frame, his game unfurling gradually like a flower with Dublin blossoming around him.

Every year has demanded something different from him. First, he was a scorer. Before he had even completed two full seasons in the team, Dublin were already looking to him as a leader. By 2010, after Meath and Kerry had laid waste to Dublin in 2009, Dublin had been forced into their shell. They were built to defend. To consolidate. Meanwhile Brogan was sent into attack by himself to forage and provide for the rest.

“What was remarkable was Dublin got to an All-Ireland semi-final in 2010 with one scoring forward,” says Colin Moran, who played with Brogan in 2007. “The team was built around Bernard, and other teams knew that. There was nothing complex about Dublin’s style of play. It was obvious he was the target in front of goals, and everyone else worked hard behind him. Opposition defences double marked him but he was still outstanding. He got scores with guys hanging out of him, and with very little support.”

Last year, with their belief restored and a solid defence to lean against, Dublin opened up a little more. Instead of relying on Brogan for everything in attack, they developed options around him and worked at getting different things from his game. In contrast to his gigantic scoring return in 2010, Brogan scored less than half that tally but his influence didn’t diminish — drawing the half foul that delivered his winning free against Kildare; four points from play against Tyrone; half of Dublin’s scores against Donegal; the crossfield pass that allowed Bryan Cullen put Dublin ahead; another crucial score late on in the All-Ireland final against Kerry.

“If you look at the team now,” says Moran, “you’d expect all of them (forward line) to get on the scoresheet. Last year his role had changed. He was looking up much more. He was laying ball off and setting up scores. He’s become a much more rounded player. Under Pat (Gilroy’s) management, he’d be hard on him regardless of his scoring ability if he felt he wasn’t working. Bernard knows he’d have no hesitation leaving him on the bench if he’s not making his tackles.”

Dublin’s story is Brogan’s story, too. Back in 2006 he was a fearless kid, filling out the B team for practice games when Dublin needed him and burning Dublin’s first choice defenders. By midsummer 2007 he was on the team, playing slightly out of position on the half-forward line but precocious enough to share some of the scoring weight from his brother Alan, while shipping plenty of jip from Paul Caffrey about working harder.

Like Dublin, he needed to learn how to get through the big days that usually brought them down. Some days he didn’t always step forward when Dublin badly needed him. Now he does. The edges have been pared from his game and polished out. He is now a provider and a playmaker, still a compiler of great scores but also the leader Dublin needed.

For the first time this year Brogan will fit seamlessly again into a forward line happily wedded to a familiar system. Dublin will expect him to deliver the basic things they expect from everyone, also the unplanned, sometimes unimaginable stuff. The stuff Dublin have missed.

“Dublin have strength in depth,” says Moran, “but you can’t replace that class. Look at the tight games last year. Bernard was like Michael Jordan was for the Chicago Bulls. If Dublin need a scorer, if they need a big play, they look to Bernard. There’s competition for places in attack, and you must deliver that work rate and everything else to justify your place, but class like his is special.”

Croke Park calls them for the first big dance of the summer. Dublin are ready. Brogan is ready. A happy marriage in the prime of its life.

Michael Foley’s Championship Previews

DUBLIN v LOUTH

Leinster SFC quarter-final, Croke Park, 4pm, live TV3

When Louth nudged out Westmeath a few weeks back, it was hard to figure where our sympathy should go. For Westmeath it was their fifth loss in succession to Louth, when the margins between them are not that wide. Yet, a win like that, snatched with a goal deep into stoppage-time, was coming to Louth a while.

What will worry them is that only stubbornness kept them in a game that should have been out of reach. Give Dublin the leeway around the middle that Westmeath enjoyed, and Louth might be calling the bagpipe wielding masses of the Dublin fire brigade back out after their 150th anniversary celebrations for assistance, sirens blaring.

Despite an extended bout of tweaking during the league, Dublin have not returned with too many changes. The interest here is in the detail.

Will Dublin continue to nudge their wing-backs further upfield having held them back last year? Although adding MacManamon gives Dublin four good scoring forwards on their day, will sacrificing Barry Cahill leave them a watercarrier short? Questions they’ll need answers for another day. Dublin to win.

LONGFORD v WEXFORD

Leinster SFC quarter-final, Croke Park, 2pm, live RTE2

Hard to work out where the form line places either of these two after the last month. Longford showed guts and skill to turn Laois over when the game seemed long gone from them, but played their worst football of the year in winning. Wexford lost the Division Three final to Longford largely because of a poor first-half showing, but played most of the football after that and nearly won.

Over the years Wexford haven’t lacked the quality in attack, or the brawn to win ball in the first place, but their defending has often lowered the blade on their hopes. Wexford’s extra experience could cover a lot of those cracks. Wexford to win.

FERMANAGH v DOWN

Ulster SFC quarter-final, Brewster Park, 3.30pm, deferred coverage BBC2NI

Although both teams neared the end of the league with glasses brimming, they endured enough spillages to make it harder to figure if they were half empty, or half full.

Fermanagh’s renewal under Peter Canavan should be sufficient to restore their pride in Ulster after their troubles last year. Can they manage something more?

Before Ryan McCluskey’s injury a shock was possible. Down are carrying injuries to key players, too, but the loss of one player to Fermanagh of McCluskey’s calibre could outweigh all that. The nature of their defeat to Wicklow in the Division Four final also reflected the work ahead, while Seamus Quigley’s mood swings, from free scoring, game-changing full-forward, to rumours of missed training sessions and ditching the panel do not help.

Of all the teams in Division One, Down made the biggest strides and, if their injuries clear up, should still be tilting at bigger windmills in August. While they can cover Benny Coulter’s absence in attack, covering for Dan Gordon in defence is trickier. Today, though, they should be fine.

LONDON v LEITRIM

Connacht SFC quarter-final, Ruislip, 3pm

It’s hard to imagine a London win in Connacht till it happens, but after beating Fermanagh in last year’s qualifiers and running Mayo terrifyingly close before it should be more likely today than ever before. For Leitrim, the usual rules apply: deprive London any hope by getting ahead early, and concentrate. They should adhere to them for long enough.