“You wouldn’t have these lads on a massive pedestal” – Lahiff not standing back to admire

Some sportspeople are guarded and don't give much away, which is fine, but the first thing you'd notice about Tom Lahiff is that this man is cool as a breeze.

You ask him about his breakthrough year with Dublin, he tells you there's more to come. You ask him about the disappointment of losing to Mayo, he doesn't shy away. 'What's the story boys?' He's hopped onto a Zoom call with ten journalists and he's ready to rock. Lahiff is the St Jude's captain, he'll captain them in this weekend's county final against Kilmacud Crokes but to get there he's travelled the back-roads. As a chap, you see, Lahiff wasn't thinking about Gaelic he was thinking about soccer. He was good enough to play for Bray Wanderers where he stayed until under-19. It was only then when he started to take the GAH seriously. Now he's on the Dublin senior panel, eyeing up the wing backs who, this year, started ahead of him.  "Not really," he says, when asked if he was intimidated when he first walked into Dublin's six-in-a-row winning dressing room. "You would have played against these lads in the club championship. There are a few lads like Brian Howard, Eoin Murchan and Con that I would have known from the under-21’s, so I knew a few familiar faces there...

"You wouldn't have these lads on a massive pedestal," he says ahead of the Go-Ahead Dublin senior football final.

You're thinking of the team-talks he's been giving the Jude's boys this year. Don't admire them. It can only be a positive too that, while the soccer didn't work out in the end, he experienced it up until a good age.

Tom Lahiff of St Judes ahead of Saturday’s Go-Ahead Dublin Senior Football Club Championship final taking place in Parnell Park in Dublin.

Leading public transport provider, Go-Ahead Ireland are the titles sponsors of all adult Dublin club leagues and championships. Photos David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.