Lee Chin believes Pat Gilroy's appointment in Dublin adds spice to next year's Leinster SHC.

And while he has his doubts about the 2011 All-Ireland SFC winning manager's ability to coax the likes of Diarmuid Connolly and Ciaran Kilkenny into the hurling fold, Chin expects Gilroy to bring the Dubs back up to the level they were at during Anthony Daly's tenure.

"Next year's Leinster championship promises to be something special," the Wexford star wrote in his Irish Daily Star column.

"With the new round-robin system coming into play, there'd be a lot of interest anyway. But that increases when you look at where the various counties are at.

"Galway will go into the campaign as the reigning All-Ireland champions. That's something new for them, and a different challenge. In Wexford, we had a decent year in 2017 and I know Davy (Fitzgerald) will want us to kick on next year.

"Brian Cody and Kilkenny will have been hurting, and they'll be out to show they haven't gone away. Offaly will have a new manager and so will Dublin. 

"And it is the identity of the Dublin boss that has made things particularly interesting. That's because Pat Gilroy is a football man. But he is a winner, and this could be a very smart appointment by Dublin.

"He was their football manager for four years, but only actually did any coaching in year four. So it isn't necessarily a handicap that he won't be doing any hurling coaching. There's talk of a specialist coach, which will likely be Anthony Cunningham, coming in. 

"A big part of management is getting the right guys around you, and knowing how to delegate. You need to be exceptionally well organised. In both his business and football careers, Gilroy has showed that he ticks these boxes."

Chin added: "There is potential in Dublin hurling. Under Anthony Daly, they were very competitive, winning Leinster and League titles. Cuala are the current All-Ireland club champions. Dublin won the Leinster U21 title last year and, since 2010, they've been in six Leinster minor finals."

Join us on Sunday for our Live Match Tracker with minute-by-minute updates from eighteen county finals plus Kilcoo versus Slaughtneil.

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