JIM GAVIN STOLE a page from the Brian Cody’s playbook last month when he pitched Michael Fitzsimons into his starting lineup for the All-Ireland final replay.
It was an inspired move. Dublin lifted the holy grail, beating Mayo by the minimum, and Fitzsimons walked away with the man of the match award. Decision vindicated.
It takes a certain type of player to step into the breach and deliver on All-Ireland final day, but to do so having not started a championship game all year is pretty special.
“I didn’t feel much pressure going into it,” said Fitzsimons. “I’m not sure what it is. I had played in finals before so I didn’t feel that nervous and it went well for me on the day.
“As it goes past quarter-final, semi-final, you are resigned to not being able to start. As a team is set and they’re doing well and they’re winning.
“You’re still pushing in training but training sessions aren’t as intense towards the end of the season, so you know you’re not going to get the same opportunity to put your name in the hat.
“It probably isn’t the best way to go. But there’s no other way. You can’t resign yourself to being on the bench because you’re not going to push yourself as hard, you’re not going to get the best out of yourself in training and in the gym
“So you have to drive yourself to start all the time, even if it is unrealistic at times.”
One thing that probably helped the Cuala defender was that he featured off the bench in every game this year, meaning he wasn’t too far off the pace.
But as the year progressed, he slowly began to accept more of a fringe role.
“I probably go into every game blindly thinking ‘this is the game I’m going to start’, it doesn’t always end up that way,” continued Fitzsimons. “Not that I wasn’t expecting it, towards the end of the season you start thinking that “I might be more of an impact sub.’
“But it is so fine between some players. It is tough at times but maybe that’s why, hopefully, we’re such a good team- there are plenty of lads there that feel they should have started.”
With a squad like Dublin’s, there are inevitably going to be a number of players dissapointed to be left off the starting line up.
Bernard Brogan, Davy Byrne and Michael Darragh MacAuley were the ones to miss out for the repeat clash with Mayo.
Gavin recgonised the need to make a change after Dublin’s poorest performance of the year in the drawn game, but the players in question got on with it.
“The great thing is,” continued Fitszimons, “you can’t really tell when somebody is pissed off in training, which is the best way to be.
“Bernard wasn’t in the team for the replay and he was the most positive man in training. And that’s indicative of the man. He started all the way up and then, the first game that he’s dropped is the final.
“You could have seen that on his face or in his demeamour but you didn’t. And that’s massive for every training session. Because little things like that can make an impact.
“You can definitely tell if someone is pissed off and if they’re sulking or they’re not giving 100 per cent. I didn’t want to be that person who had a chip on his shoulder.
“Yeah, I could use it (as motivation) in training but I wouldn’t want to be the person bringing the session down.”
Kevin McManamon’s advice helped Fitzsimons during the year, as he tried to make an impact off the bench.
For years McManamon had the tag of Dublin’s ‘super-sub’ because of his unique ability to make an instant impact off the bench, while the St Jude’s forward also took a sports psychology course in Jordanstown University.
“Unfortunately I’ve got used to it the last two years but Kev Mac was the sort of expert on that so he was offering the subs a bit of advice on how to get your head right for coming on.
“Yeah, it’s tough. Maybe if you’d been starting for a while and you got dropped it’s tougher but you saw what Bernard did and Macauley, that was just exceptional.
“It must be harder when you’ve been starting to do it. But once you’ve been on the bench for a while it becomes a bit easier just to keep focused, know when you’re coming on and see what you can do to make an impact.
“Maybe you take a few minutes to talk to yourself and get yourself ready so that you’re not affecting the session you’re going into or the game. It really is a team thing, you have to take it on the chin that you’re not playing.
“It was great to get a start in the replay, it’s great to get in and it was another great team performance and another great year. Delighted I could feature in every game and great to just win that replay because we probably didn’t perform the first day.”
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