There was talk, late last year, of Con O’Callaghan giving it a go with the Dublin hurlers as he was unlikely to break into the footballer’s 2017 championship team.
The Cuala clubman had won plaudits during their successful All-Ireland hurling club championship. The Dublin hurlers would have dearly loved him in their ranks but his heart was set on breaking into Jim Gavin’s plans.
O’Callaghan is into his second full championship campaign with the senior squad. He featured briefly in the 2016 championship but those that knew of him felt the breakthrough was only a matter of time.
Alan Brogan retired from the inter-county scene in 2015 but is still in touch with many of the senior squad, including, of course, his brother Bernard. O’Callaghan was said to have made quite the impression on the established players. Brogan says:
“He is similar to Ciarán Kilkenny in that there had been talk about him coming up for a wile. He was a name that was mentioned from early doors. Talk was that he was going to make it.
“From what I heard, he came in like Kilkenny when he first did and showed no fear. He had that confidence about him. He knew his own abilities without being arrogant about it.
“The lads knew straight from those first sessions that there was something about him. As we’ve seen [this summer], he has that pace and strength and some fantastic football skills. He still has some strength and conditioning work, and some growing, to do. He’s able to hold his own already though.”
O’Callaghan took his chance in the Dublin team once Diarmuid Connolly picked up his suspension. He excelled against Kildare and tore Tyrone asunder in the semi final. “He has taken to senior football like a duck to water,” Brogan remarks.
He has not only broken through, he is there in an All-Ireland final on merit and one of the reigning champion’s true dangermen. Within four minutes of throw-in, O’Callaghan had deftly finished past David Clarke in the Mayo goal:
The Green and Red sea parts and Con O'Callaghan fires an early Dublin goal. Watch #DUBvMayo highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm tonight pic.twitter.com/vLK7Qs8VSU
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) September 17, 2017
Each time he makes the step up, he does so without giving it a second’s thought.
He feels he belongs and, with each appearance this summer, he is proving he belongs.
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