Eoghan O'Donnell: Dublin hurlers must target silverware

Dublin hurlers won't be going into the new year looking to just make up the numbers - they're looking to compete for the game's biggest prizes, according to captain Eoghan O'Donnell.

That will be music to the ears of the new man in charge, Micheál Donoghue, who it would appear measures success only in titles won. Donoghue took over from Mattie Kenny following this year's championship campaign and, with All-Ireland titles at club and county level already on his CV, the Claringbridge man isn't in Dublin just to sightsee.

"Success is what every player is after and Dublin hurlers are no different. We really have to target silverware," O'Donnell said. "When you're finished you're playing career and you look back, it's not enough just to get the pat on the back and say 'you did your part' or 'you were a good young player', you really have to be able to look back at silverware."

Dublin's last Leinster success, which will celebrate it's 10-year anniversary next summer, helped inspire many of the generation of players who currently wear the sky blue. Full-back O'Donnell is well aware of what a similar victory for the present-day squad could do for the small-ball game in the capital.

"A Leinster championship in Dublin would be a huge success and it would be just what is needed for the group to show that the work we're putting in has us on the right track and we are doing the right things.

"It's like a reward for the hard work that's been put in and I think it would just kickstart everything in Dublin and instil that sense of belief that we are a top team when we perform and when we play to our ability we can come out and win the big things."

The Whitehall Colmcille man's enthusiasm for the new regime is impossible to miss. It may be