Today is the third Sunday in September, the traditional highlight of the football year. The Dubs will feel like they've won something big.
Dublin senior football manager Dessie Farrell has confirmed that Paul Mannion and Jack McCaffrey will return to the Dublin panel for the 2023 season.
Six-time All Ireland winner Mannion stepped away from inter-county football in 2020, while five-time winner McCaffrey hasn't featured for the Dubs since the 2019 All Ireland final replay against Kerry.
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During their hiatus, both men have poured cold water on the prospect of donning the sky blue shirt again. However, in an interview with DubsTV on Sunday, Dessie Farrell confirmed the return of the two Dublin legends.
"Good news is we'll have Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion rejoining the squad next year as well," said Farrell.
"So that'll be a great help to us in terms of the development and continuous evolution of the team and the squad."
"And of course we'll be hoping that by the time the championship ends we'll have a sprinkling of one or two other new players to bring in."
Manager Farrell did it in that low key way of his, something he has in common with his predecessor, Jim Gavin.
When the prodigal son, Diarmuid Connolly, returned to the fold under Gavin, he released the news on Dubs TV, buried at the end of a mundane squad update.
Farrell repeated the trick yesterday following club championship games.
A few lines about looking at players and talking up a couple of lads on the fringes and, then, the mic drop.
McCaffrey and Mannion would be rejoining the Dublin football panel for the 2023 season.
Suddenly, the mood music all over Ireland, not just Dublin, has changed.
The Dubs were 5/2 second favourites for the Sam Maguire Cup in 20203 prior to this news breaking, with Kerry 11/8. That price looks appealing right now.
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