Eoghan O'Donnell will return to the Dublin hurlers for the 2023 season in what is a massive boost to new boss Michéal Donoghue.
While Dublin football supremo Dessie Farrell will have Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion back for next year, O'Donnell has decided to go back to the county's hurling set-up having joined up with the footballers in the last week in May.
The Whitehall Colmcilles man has been a talisman for the hurlers for years, having evolved into one of the country's top defenders since his Dubs debut in 2015.
READ MORE: Return of Paul Mannion and Jack McCaffrey to Dublin a "mouth watering" prospect, says Robbie Brennan
Mattie Kenny appointed him captain for the 2022 season, describing him as a "natural leader".
But the 26-year-old switched codes after the Dubs' Leinster SHC championship exit on May 21, the round robin defeat to Galway bringing the curtain down on the Kenny era.
Fears that O'Donnell would remain with the footballers have proved unfounded, however.
And it is a shot in the arm for the hurlers to have him back on board as Donoghue, who guided Galway to All-Ireland glory, continues preparations for his first year at the helm.
O'Donnell had been part of a football development panel in his teens before making his Dublin football debut against Cork in the All-Ireland SFC quarter-final in July.
He came into the full-back line for the final six minutes of the game and afterwards Farrell described him as "a great competitor, a great warrior", but subsequently O'Donnell did not feature in the last-gasp semi-final loss to Kerry.
Farrell elaborated on O'Donnell's introduction to the football panel after that Cork game.
"It’s a big ask of him to be able to transition from one to the other," he said.
"They are very different games but obviously he has a pedigree as a very good footballer with his club in Whitehall.
"I had him at development squad level back in the day as well so, yeah, we’ve been impressed with him to date, for sure.
"He brings leadership too, of course. He's been very well received by the lads.
“He’s definitely an addition to the squad and it was great to see him get some game time.”
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