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Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion returning to the Dublin senior football panel for 2023

Dublin senior football manager Dessie Farrell has confirmed that Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion will be linking back up with his panel for the 2023 season; the multiple All-Stars stepped away from the squad in recent years due to personal reasons

Brian Barry

GAA Editor @BrianGBarry

Sunday 18 September 2022 19:48, UK

2 September 2018; Jack McCaffrey, left, and Paul Mannion of Dublin after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Dublin and Tyrone at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
Image: McCaffrey and Mannion celebrate the 2018 All-Ireland final victory

The Dublin footballers have received a significant boost with the news that Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion will be rejoining the panel for 2023.

Both players, who were central to the Dubs' stunning dominance under Jim Gavin, left the panel in recent years due to personal reasons.

Their absence was felt in 2021 and 2022 as the Sky Blues failed to win the All-Ireland.

But Dessie Farrell confirmed on Sunday evening that the pair will be returning ahead of the new inter-county season.

"At this stage of the club championship, you're always going to be keeping an eye on emerging talent," Farrell said in an interview with Dubs TV, reflecting on the county quarter-finals.

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"You do it throughout the year, but the cream rises to the top at this stage of the competition. We're very interested in identifying some new players.

"We've had a lot of new players come into the squad over the last two years. And that process continues. Very interesting the progress that some of our players have made.

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"Good news is we'll have Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion rejoining the squad next year as well. So that'll be a great help to us, in terms of the development and continued evolution of the team and squad.

"We're hoping before the club championship ends that we'll have a sprinkling of one or two other new players to bring in, and we'll look forward to the season ahead then."

4 September 2022; Paul Mannion of Kilmacud Crokes during the Dublin County Senior Club Football Championship Group 1 match between Kilmacud Crokes and Templeogue Synge Street at Parnell Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras .. M..dheach/Sportsfile
Image: Mannion has remained one of the country's top forwards, helping Kilmacud Crokes to Dublin and Leinster titles last year

Clontarf clubman McCaffrey, 28, was named Footballer of the Year in 2015. He departed the squad following the 2019 All-Ireland final win over Kerry.

Mannion, meanwhile, played in 2020 as the Dubs sealed a sixth consecutive crown, but walked away for two seasons. He spent the summer in Boston before returning in recent weeks, and has starred for Kilmacud Crokes in their bid to defend the Dublin SFC title.

The left-footed forward, 29, sustained an injury in Saturday's Dublin SFC quarter-final win over Cuala.

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