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Denis Bastick - "I suppose that's when you see the commitment to the team"

With Dublin going for their eight consecutive Leinster Senior Football Championship tomorrow when...



Denis Bastick - "I suppose...
Videos

Denis Bastick - "I suppose that's when you see the commitment to the team"

With Dublin going for their eight consecutive Leinster Senior Football Championship tomorrow when they face Laois, the question is now being posed whether Jim Gavin's side will even celebrate the trophy if they win.

OTB's Saturday Panel saw Nathan Murphy joined by Denis Bastick, Niall Carew, and Frankie Dolan, and Bastick was quick to point out the professional standards set mean that most of the players will be back training early next week and may forego even celebrating the championship.

"It's interesting because you'll have the guys who played but you'll also have part of the panel who won't have played. So there will probably be training the following week or an extra session for those guys who haven't played, so they have to make the decision. 

"Are they going to go out and party or are they going to train on the Monday and Tuesday and stuff like that? The option will be there, whether the guys take it or not, I suppose that's when you see the commitment to the team". 

While some see the chance to celebrate and have a drink as a natural thing, Bastick noted that Jim Gavin's management team won't stand in the players' way, but said he won't view a night of drinking as a reward for the achievement.

"It's not a reward, it's a personal choice, you know? There'll be an option there for guys to let themselves go or not, and it's up to guys then whether they want to".

Bastick did note that while the celebrations may not be wild, he believes there is some benefit to the squad moral and team bonding when the players have a drink together, referencing the night after a final from his own playing days as a time he felt the players probably needed it.

"There was one final in particular where the mood was quite somber and there wasn't too many guys going out, and it did cross my mind at that stage that maybe a good night out or a good knees up together as a group would have been good, we needed it".

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