ALL-IRELAND SFC QUARTER-FINAL/DUBLIN v KERRY: IAN O'RIORDANtalks to Dublin's dogged defender about his county's unfulfilled All-Ireland ambitions and the huge threat Kerry will pose today

ONE OF the accusations made against Dublin in the 14 years since their last All-Ireland win is that they’re somehow not Dublin enough. A little too soft around the centre. Too often taking the soft option. In some cases, a little too soft-spoken. Where are all those hard men from the 1970s? Why aren’t there more Northsiders? Where exactly is there or thereabouts?

Step up, David Henry. He looks the part. He sounds the part. He’s more than willing and able to play his part. Henry is cut from the same cloth that once gave Dublin the full metal jacket. A Raheny man. Hard as nails and could run all day. No messing. Reliable. As pure a Dublin footballer as there’s been.

Then he tells us both his parents are from Offaly. Clara, county Offaly. Oh. Could be worse. They could be from Kerry. The last thing Henry or any other Dublin footballer needs right now is any more minor allowances for not beating Kerry.

“It’s not about what happened two years ago, or what happened 32 years ago, but about the Dublin team of here and now making a statement of their intentions. But okay, what better way of doing that than by beating Kerry?

“To be honest, I did get a bit of a buzz when Kerry came out of the draw,” says Henry, in his unmistakable Dublin accent. “I’m sure it was the same for the Kerry lads. These are the games you want to be playing in, and we certainly don’t need any motivation.

“We’ve seen it the last few years, teams coming up to play us in Croke Park, in front of a full house, don’t need any motivation, and produce some of their best form. That’s only natural, and we have to try to produce our best as well. At this stage, if we’re not hungry for it, there’s something wrong. We haven’t won an All-Ireland, and that’s what drives us on. We just want to do as well as we can. We want to achieve, regardless of what’s happened in the past.”

The idea that Kerry are a team just about stemming their own decline is not something Henry easily entertains, and for good reason. It’s still a little premature to announce the end of the Kingdom, even given the tell-tale signs of recent weeks, on top of the rumours of discontent.

“You’re just better off concentrating on what you have to do,” says Henry. “It was the same a couple of years ago, a couple of stories going around about Kerry, and they still won the All-Ireland. Within that Kerry team there must be close to 100 All-Ireland medals. They know each other inside out. They’ve a point to prove to themselves, and their own supporters. If they’re going to produce a performance it’s likely to be Monday.

“We played Kerry two years ago, and they were hugely physical then. We’ve worked a bit on our physicality. Kildare I think gave us the toughest of our last five Leinster finals. To play in, anyway, it was the most intense, the most competitive. A lot of us have been around for a few years now, getting more experienced all the time, and when it came down to the last few minutes of that game I think it told.”

Henry appears fully concentrated on what he has to do this afternoon. It helps that he’s on summer holidays from his teaching post at Holy Trinity, Donaghmede. A full-time footballer – temporarily, at least. Since 2006, when he was first handed the number two shirt, he’s been steadily improving to the stage where is now probably Dublin’s core defender, particularly with Paul Griffin now operating at wing back, while the rest of the full-back line of Denis Bastick and Paddy Andrews are relatively inexperienced.

But they worked well as a unit against Kildare, and thus remain the chosen ones.

“With the defence, maybe, it is more beneficial to have a settled unit, that’s played together. You probably develop a better understanding that way. At this level though you have to be versatile, mobile, because you don’t know where you’re going to end up on the pitch.”

WITH HENRY that certainly rings true, as he typically ends up well into the opposition’s half, often adding a score while he’s at it. In fact, he started Dublin’s opening game of the season – the Lights! Camera! Action! game against Tyrone – at centre forward: “It was something different. I would be comfortable playing up the field, with the club. With the county it’s a different story. So I think I’m more comfortable at the back with Dublin. Obviously, it didn’t work out too well in the forwards though. . . ”

So he’s back where he belongs with Dublin, and must be one of the few corner backs in the country who actually looks like he enjoys the position.

“Enjoy it?” he responds. “Enjoy mightn’t be a great word. But I enjoy the challenge of it. It’s a position you can get over worked- up about, but I don’t think there’s any point. You have to be fairly philosophical about it. If good ball comes in to good forwards there’s very little you can do a lot of the time. One little slip, and people are thinking ‘what was yer man doing. . . ’

“But I suppose the better corner backs don’t have that many slips, minimise the mistakes. You just have to try to be as safe as you can, and get on with every ball.”

Henry does still enjoy his hurling, and played two years with the senior team, in 2000, and 2001: “When the county season finishes I always like to go back and play a few games with the club.

“But I played my last hurling match a couple of years ago, and broke my arm. After that I said I’d stick with the football as long as the county was doing well. But the Dublin hurlers have made unbelievable progress this year.”

It’s expected that Henry will shadow Colm “Gooch” Cooper this afternoon, no matter where the wily Kerryman starts. Henry enjoyed one of his best games of the year against Kerry in the league, limiting Cooper to one score from play. And at least they’ll have no Kieran Donaghy to worry about.

“Look, Kieran’s an excellent player, we all know that. But it hasn’t affected our preparations. Kerry have an abundance of talent in the forward line, all natural footballers, that can kick off both feet. We’ll have to be just as prepared, no matter who we’re marking.

“So whether it’s the Gooch, or whoever it is, you just have to try to get the ball before they do. Or if they get the ball try to limit the damage. It’s the same mindset, no matter who you’re marking.”

Spoken like a true Dub.