Darragh Ó Sé: Being humble is the bedrock of Dublin’s greatness

The best team won the All-Ireland. You can’t always say that every year but when a team goes back-to-back, it’s fairly straight-forward. And when they do it by beating probably the two next best teams in the country, it’s a no-brainer. The Dubs were tested to the pin of their collar in the semi-final, final and final replay and they came through. You can’t ask for more than that.

Jim Gavin got his calls right. Not many managers would have chanced taking Bernard Brogan and Michael Darragh Macauley out of the team because the safer thing to do would be not to risk the flak that would have come his way if it hadn't worked out. You only need to see the hammering Stephen Rochford is getting to see how that goes.

For what it’s worth, I think Rochford is getting way too much blame here. What do people want from their manager? They want him to assess all the information he has that people on the outside don’t have. They want him to make an honest decision with that information. They want him to send out his team with a plan to win.

If anyone could make an argument that Rochford didn’t do those things here, then fine, lambast him away. But I don’t think anyone is saying any of those things. What they’re saying is he took a gamble in changing goalkeepers and it didn’t pay off. Well, sorry now, but that’s sport.

Cormac Costello hadn't kicked a point all summer. Not one! Are you telling me that throwing a 22-year-old into the last 20 minutes of an All-Ireland final replay when he hadn't scored a point for six months wasn't a big gamble?

Of course it was. But Gavin made his decision on information he had that the rest of us didn't. Rochford did the same. It worked out for Dublin, it blew up in Mayo's face. It happens.

Tuned in

Fair play to young Costello, all the same. I’m always going on about how important it is to be tuned in on All-Ireland final day and sometimes it’s hard to explain exactly what being tuned in is. But all you have to do is watch Costello on Saturday night and you can see it as clear as day.

You often hear coaches talk about treating the warm-up as seriously as you would treat the game but I sometimes think you should look at it the other way around. If you ever watch players go through the warm-up, they’re relaxed and they’re loose and they’re not afraid to take on the shot. That doesn’t mean they’re shooting from mad positions, it just means that they’re not worried about missing.

You’d love every forward to be able to treat the game the same way they treat the warm-up. You’d love them to be shooting without tightening up, as if they’re just taking part in a training drill. That’s what Costello looked like to me when he came on.

He looked like someone who was waiting his turn in line on a Tuesday night at training. Right lads, here’s the drill – out, catch, three steps, over the bar, back to the back of the queue, go again.

Costello got three balls and he had them all going over the bar within a couple of seconds of getting the ball in his hand. I’d say if you counted it all up, he was involved for no more than 10 or 15 seconds altogether. But because he was totally tuned in to what was needed from him, Dublin won the All-Ireland.

Compare that to Tom Parsons at the start of the game. He had Mayo's first chance of a score when he broke into space down at the Canal End. Next time you're early to a game, even a club game, watch the warm-up and you'll see fellas chipping that chance over the bar without a second thought. But Parsons pulled it wide.

Yes, it was early in the game and no, it isn't the reason Mayo lost. But it was no earlier in the game for Parsons than Costello's first point was for him. If you're tuned in, you kick that point. No arguments, no questions. Three steps, over the bar, back to the back of the queue. Costello was tuned in when he came on and was able to kick his points as if it was no big deal. So Dublin pulled away.

Costello did the finishing but big winners for Dublin through that closing period were their big powerful men. Macauley had a massive impact off the bench, driving through and skittling Mayo players out of the way. He set up three of Dublin’s last four points. That’s what you want from somebody who was dropped between games.

But my man of the match and player of the year was James McCarthy. What a player Dublin have there. He’s far and away my favourite footballer in the country. Big, bould, athletic and totally absorbed in the game. I don’t know how you’d play against him.

He’s brave – but then, I’d be brave too if I was built like him and I could move as quickly and easily as he does. He took off on a gallop at one stage in the closing stages, played a one-two and offloaded the ball up around the Mayo D. Mayo’s tackling was brilliant, in fairness to them, and they turned the ball over while he was committed forward and launched an attack.

Keeps on trucking

But even though he was after covering 60 yards and shipping a few blows along the way, McCarthy just wheeled for home and he was back in position before the ball got into the Mayo forwards. Dublin turned the ball over and who had his hand up again looking for the ball? My man in the number five shirt. He just keeps on trucking.

I know he missed a few games with injury during the year but he’s back in fine fettle now. Put it this way – I wouldn’t like to be having to face him in the Dublin championship over the next few weeks. Parnell Park would be like a five-a-side pitch to him in this form.

Paul Galvin wouldn’t know how to take a backward step in a physical battle but even he said to me the other day that with McCarthy, he’d have to think twice about going there. Praise doesn’t come much higher than that.

That power Dublin have in the likes of McCarthy and Macauley and Brian Fenton and these guys really kicked in over that closing period. Whatever about the effect that had going forward, it was a big help in defence too. By that stage, Barry Moran was on the edge of the square for Mayo but you could see as clear as day that it was just a huge struggle for them to get the ball to him.

If you have a big man on the edge of the square, he may as well be standing on his head if you can't get the right ball into him. Remember, at this stage, Mayo didn't have Lee Keegan or Donal Vaughan on the pitch so they were missing one of their best kickers and one of the best ball-carriers. And the players they did have were continually back-pedalling or getting knocked sideways by the likes of Macauley and McCarthy.

In that situation, it was nearly impossible for them to even get in position to deliver the right ball. But they kept at it, in fairness, and Parsons was able to hit Moran with one good ball that they got a free out of. It was just such a struggle at that stage.

None of those Mayo guys have anything to apologise for, though. They’re serious men. I ran into Seamus O’Shea’s uncle earlier in the week and he said to expect a big game from him. When I asked why, he said he’d been talking to Seamus and he said straight out, “Well, I can’t be as bad as the last day so I’m just going to give it everything.”

Pure force of will

I thought he had a huge performance. Fenton did good things in the game but O’Shea got the better of him. It was a tribute to O’Shea’s attitude that he just decided through pure force of will that he wasn’t going to let the first day happen to him again.

And it was a big tribute to Rochford as well. Would there have been many people giving out if O’Shea had been dropped after the drawn game? Rochford could easily have decided that Fenton was becoming too dominant and maybe Seamie didn’t have the legs for him.

But no, he knew his man and he trusted his man and he got an immense performance from him. Some calls work, some calls don’t. People should remember that when they’re spending the winter giving the Mayo manager a hosing.

Dublin are such an admirable side. When you’re successful like they are, everybody wants their pound of flesh, everybody wants to beat you and everybody else wants to see you beaten.

The rest of the country can cry about money and population and all that stuff if they like but the plain facts of it are that Dublin had three games in five weeks that were all there for the winning by either side going into injury-time and they didn’t lose any of them.

There’s a selflessness to them that you can’t help loving. They don’t have guys who go off on solo runs. In other eras, you could always rely on the odd Dub to get carried away with himself but none of these guys do. The rest of us are in trouble when the Dubs decide to be humble. Usually our best hope is a bit of big city arrogance.

But we all saw them the other day. They took this whole thing in their stride. They expected to win and they did win and they enjoyed it and moved on. I’d say most of them were back in work yesterday. Job done, back to the back of the queue, go again.

Much as it hurts me to admit it from a Kerry point of view, they’re not going anywhere.