CON O’CALLAGHAN ADMITS his target is to break into Jim Gavin’s Dublin side this summer but his immediate focus remains on Cuala’s bid for All-Ireland club glory.
The dual star forward featured in three of Dublin’s Leinster Senior Football Championship games last year before finishing the year as the star of Cuala’s Leinster club hurling success.
His exploits for the Dalkey club yesterday earned him the AIB Leinster Club Hurler of the Year award but attention has already turned to 2017 as he sets himself ambitious goals for the year.
O’Callaghan will line out for Dalkey in the All-Ireland club semi-final against Slaughtneil on 25 February before switching focus to football and a potentially breakthrough season at county level.
However, should Cuala progress to the final, his involvement in Dublin’s Allianz League campaign — which begins on Sunday against Cavan — could be limited, thus reducing his chances of forcing his way into Gavin’s plans.
“That’s obviously a long-term target,” he said. “I have to just play it by ear. I’ll really focus on the Slaughtneil match. Whatever happens after that will happen, but in the long-term I’d love to be able to break through.
“But it’s too far in the future to think about it at the moment; I have to forget football for the moment and focus on the hurling. I’m really giving my full attention to the club and I’ll keep my eye in with the football.”
While O’Callaghan’s busy schedule means he opted against committing to UCD for their Fitzgibbon Cup tilt this year, the student will look to make the transition back to the big ball by playing for Dublin U21s in their Leinster quarter-final against either Meath or Westmeath on 1 March.
All in all, it’s a hectic time for the forward and juggling commitments requires patience from his various managers.
“Mattie [Kenny, Cuala manager] is extremely passionate and serious about hurling. But he understands, along with Dessie [Farrell, Dublin U21 manager] and Jim – Dessie is obviously part of the GPA – players have to have a life outside of Gaelic.
“I took yesterday off; I didn’t go up to the match (in Drogheda) because I just wanted to get a day off and just a day’s rest. They understand that you can’t be training 24/7, playing 24/7 – you need down-time as well.
“Sometimes it is [hard to switch off]. Sometimes you’d be worried about trying to break through with the Dublin team later on in the year; you’d be worried about all that stuff.
“But generally I’m okay for it, I’m not thinking about Gaelic the whole time and I can get a bit of down-time. My mother goes down to the beach all the time and you can go down surfing there or do something else; play a bit of golf maybe and just forget about Gaelic and hurling.”
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