Dublin hurling captain Eoghan O’Donnell makes surprise switch to join Dessie Farrell’s footballers

O’Donnell was appointed Dublin hurling captain only this year, replacing Danny Sutcliffe. The Whitehall player has been on the Dublin senior hurling squad since 2015 and is recognised as one of the best full backs in the game.

Mattie Kenny described O’Donnell as a “natural leader” when announcing the decision to award O’Donnell the captaincy in January. His move to the football squad follows other dual players who made similar switches and will trigger concerns that he could be lost to the county hurlers next season.

In the past other high profile-players to make that move include Conal Keaney, Tomas Brady, Shane Ryan and Mark Schutte. Dublin hurlers had a disappointing championship when failing to qualify from their Leinster round robin round, eliminated on the final day when Wexford and Kilkenny finished ahead of Kenny’s side on scoring difference.

Dublin footballers were relegated from Division 1 this year for the first time since 1995 and relinquished their grip on the All-Ireland in 2021 when losing to Mayo, but have been rejuvenated during the recent Leinster Championship with runaway wins over Wexford, Meath and Kildare.

Last Saturday they captured a 12th straight provincial title, blitzing Kildare in the Leinster final with five first half goals.