James McCarthy 'understands uproar' over Dublin's two Super 8s games in Croke Park

McCarthy and Dublin enjoyed 'home' advantage twice in the Super 8s

James McCarthy says that he can understand the frustrations caused by Dublin having two Super 8s games in Croke Park.

The contentious issue of Dublin's two ties at Croker raised its head once again in recent weeks with reports that it is set to remain in place for 2019.

Donegal challenged the GAA on the issue in the lead-up to their trip to the Jones' Road stadium in July, but the venue decision was upheld.

Dublin played both Donegal and Roscommon in Croker during the Super 8s

Recently crowned All-Star James McCarthy admitted that he can understand other teams' frustrations, but insists that the Dublin players have no preference.

"We play where we're told to play," explained the Ballymun star. "But look, I understand the uproar out there.

"One of the most enjoyable games we had last year was going up to Omagh and playing in Omagh. It was brilliant - a great atmosphere. Local crowd, tight pitch. We'd love to do it more. But we play where we're told.

"Do teams want to play in Croke Park or not? You'd have thought teams would love to come up and play in Croke Park. Maybe that's not the case anymore.

"Even the away games in the League, they're the games you really look forward to. They're the games that excite you. If you got a couple more of them, it'd be great. But we do what we're told I suppose, and that's up to the councils to discuss and re-jig it around."

McCarthy was speaking at the AIG Heroes event, a CSR initiative to help support local grassroots communities by using their sporting partnership with Dublin GAA

Overall, he feels the new Super 8s format has been a success.

"A lot of people were giving out, but I think it was good that it's being changed. Obviously there's a small bit of tweaking that can still be done. Look at the hurling, it's been better again.

"It's the way people want it to go. This kind of round-robin, back and forth games, home and away games, eventually going to knock out."

For the moment, Dublin are set to continue with two Super 8s ties in Croke Park but expect this to cause further unrest next summer.

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