WHEN JACK MCCAFFREY made his bow in an All-Ireland final, it was the day Bernard Brogan at last realised his senior ambition.
In 2011 McCaffrey was a part of a band of Dublin minor players that would go on to light up the rest of the decade at the elite level. They were gunned down in that underage decider by Tipperary, the curtain-raiser to the main event when Dublin made their long-awaited breakthrough.
Brogan swept over six points in that win over Kerry and McCaffrey soon pushed onto Dublin’s flagship squad where they became team-mates.
Yesterday Brogan formally drew a line under the Dublin senior chapter of his football career. McCaffrey got to share in five Sam Maguire triumphs with him, he was absent three seasons ago after taking a step back from the squad, and appreciates the impact of the 2010 Footballer of the Year.
“I mentioned earlier that there’s a couple of guys I want to meet for a quiet catch up and reminisce and he’s certainly one of those,” stated McCaffrey, speaking yesterday at the launch of the 2019 Currencyfair Asian Gaelic Games.
“Bernard is a guy who initially when I was coming into the squad and was 19, I would have thought he’s a very strong character, all the ball has to go through him and that kind of stuff.
“(But) just to see the kind of team-mate he’s been, the kind of friend he’s been. It’s amazing that he has twins, he’s married, he works in business, he’s in a very different stage in his life than I would be, but the time he takes with everybody, from the youngest member of the panel to the oldest, he’s just a fantastic man.
“He’s a fantastic man full stop. That’s probably the most important thing about him.”
Brogan’s role has altered of late as McCaffrey’s influence on Dublin’s fortunes has become more pronounced. Brogan remained a key cog in the 2015 and 2016 campaigns, albeit he started the latter replay win over Mayo on the bench. He was sprung late on for the 2017 final success but a torn cruciate in early 2018 hindered his involvement and game time was restricted on those significant championship days over the past two summers.
Clontarf’s flying defender was the best player in the country four years ago and after missing out in 2016, he has sat comfortably amongst the marquee names for the last two All-Star selections.
McCaffrey’s own knee snapped in the 2017 All-Ireland final and he can relate to the setbacks Brogan endured, his admiration never having wavered for his attacking compatriot.
“Something I’ve mentioned in interviews before about him is that he really made the transition, in my eyes anyway, from being one of Dublin’s best ever players, an absolute legend, to in the last couple of years when he’s had the cruciate injury and things that at his stage would have stopped a lot of people in their tracks, he’s just kept the head down and been completely and utterly selfless and gone about his business.
“It’s been an absolute pleasure to have soldiered alongside him.”
Over a month on from Dublin’s All-Ireland victory, McCaffrey is still savouring the success rather than beginning to plot for a drive at 2020.
Paul Flynn moved on in May and Brogan officially departed yesterday. It all adds to a sense that change could be in the offing for the Dublin setup.
“It is an annual thing there is always a bit of evolution in the squad,” admits McCaffrey.
“Obviously the Dublin U20s got to an All-Ireland final last year so I’m sure there’ll be a few of those lads looking to come in and kick on and you are right to point out that a fair few of us had been on the road for a fair while and have family commitments and stuff.
“It is a big decision for anyone to make to finish up playing inter-county football. I’m sure there are a couple of guys to finish but I’d imagine they’ll be reaching that decision in the near future.
“I haven’t been chatting to him (Jim Gavin) since the celebrations afterwards. I’m assuming and hoping he is back I have said it before I don’t see any reason to think he wouldn’t be but no I haven’t picked up the phone to ask him.
“Last year we started back after the team holiday which was in the first week of January so we started in mid January. We picked up quite a lot of injuries at the start of the year so I’d imagine they might change their tack a little bit whether that is coming back earlier or doing some other work. It has varied massively year on year.”
On the latest episode of The42 Rugby Weekly, Andy Dunne tells Murray Kinsella and Gavan Casey about where it all went wrong for Joe Schmidt’s Ireland
