By John Harrington

Insecurity is the last thing you would expect Bernard Brogan to suffer from, and yet suffer from it he does.

But it’s not a weakness. It’s a strength that has helped him develop into one of the greatest forwards in the history of Dublin football and one of the very best of his era in the whole country. Despite that lofty status, Brogan said yesterday that he does not think he is even as naturally gifted as younger Dublin team-mates like Ciaran Kilkenny and Cormack Costello.

It was a surprising admission for a player who has won four All-Stars and one Footballer of the Year award in the last six years, but it opened an illuminating window into his psyche. Brogan is driven by that insecurity to work constantly on self-improvement so he can extract the absolute maximum from himself and keep his place in the Dublin pecking order.

“Some of those lads are much more naturally gifted footballers than me,” he admitted. “I'm a Dublin fan, I love playing for Dublin and every time I wake up in the morning I give thanks that I am able to be in the situation I'm in and I go out in every training session I make sure that I'm good enough in Jim's eyes, the management's eyes to get my place. I'm lucky enough that I have played every game I have been fit for. I want to continue that for another year or two. That's my objective to keep pushing.

“I'm not a Cormac Costello or a Ciaran Kilkenny that is just naturally gifted. I worked really hard to get to where I am with Dublin. As you know I spent three years on the bench and made my debut at 24, and had a cruciate injury at 20. I did it the hard way, I  got to play with Dublin the long way around, so I appreciate that and I'm very conscious of it when I'm playing.”

Brogan views the self-assurance and skill possessed by Kilkenny and Costello with some envy, because the Dublin jersey and success did not come so easily to him at the same age. He wasn’t an underage star, and he had to serve a long apprenticeship as a bench-warmer before he finally earned a regular place in the starting XV under former manager Pat Gilroy.

“I just think the guys are amazing footballers,” says Brogan. “Paul Mannion, Cormac and Ciaran came up through the ranks and are a lot more mentally stronger and physically able for the senior set up and were able to come into a team and just roll into it.

“I obviously went the longer route around it and it took me a while to break into it and get my head right to be able to offer something on the pitch. So from that point of view I think it's a credit to Dublin's underage systems that they have implemented over the last 10 years. Having the likes of Cian O'Sullivan coming out of it, Rory O'Carroll, Ciaran Kilkenny, Cormac Costello and now Con O'Callaghan and these lads are coming through.

“They're in that high performance system from U-14 all the way up to minor, successful teams. I didn't play underage for Dublin, I didn't get picked. I played minor hurling. I played a little bit of 21s, then I got injured. So I didn't have that kind of upbringing and that high performance training set that these boys came through and it just meant that when they came up to senior level they were comfortable in the surroundings, used to training, used to that atmosphere and that's why they're maybe more comfortable.”

Brogan might not have the natural ability of young guns like Kilkenny and Costello, but at the age of 32 he remains the most important forward in the Dublin team. He’s their most reliable finisher and match-winner, and proved in the League Semi-Final and Final he remains as sharp as ever as he hit a combined total of 1-6 from play. But even though he’s in a rich vein of form coming into the Championship, he does not believe he’s a nailed down starter for the match against Laois.

“Yeah, genuinely,” he said. “There's no guarantees. I came into a bit of form at the end of the League, which I was delighted with. I felt good, I trimmed up a bit, I had no injuries, no knocks. I feel in good nick and got a good bit of game-time coming into the last couple of games, so that was important for me.

“I like getting as much time as I can coming into the summer and I had missed a lot early on in the League, which I was a bit nervous about. The lads were moving well. Dean Rock is moving well, Costello is doing really good, Eoghan O'Gara is coming back and showing a bit of form in training.

“Paddy Andrews is obviously flying. You could go on and on with the full-forward line. But yeah, I'm happy with where I'm at. I feel in good nick, as I said I've got a good bit of momentum coming out of the League, so hopefully Jim will give me the nod.

“But definitely, the jersey is not a guarantee, where in other years I might have been a bit more comfortable with it, but definitely this year there is a lot more lads breathing down the neck.”

The competition for places has only made Brogan all the more determined to get the very best from himself. He’s not as young as he once was, but he’s now training smarter to get more from his body.

“What I've tried to do this year is get more in the legs,” he said. “I've slimmed down, I've eased off the weights a good bit and just tried to become a little bit more agile, and a little bit sharper on my feet. You look at Cormac Costello turning and the power of Eoghan O'Gara, you have to try and add something different or do something better than the other lads, otherwise you won't get the jersey. So something I really went after is the agility and trying to be sharp on the turn. That's what I've been working on over the winter.

“I’ve done bits of pilates and a good bit of yoga. Obviously, as you get a bit older, the hamstrings and stuff, I've had a couple of bad injuries over the years so you try and keep them right, and yoga has been a good way to keep the body fresh. All that stuff, the recovery is becoming a massive thing for me. The body takes a bit longer to get back to 100%, so I'm really going after that and trying to get all of those processes right so that I'm ready for the next training session.”

With Ireland’s next International Rules tour to Australia pushed back until 2017, Brogan will have to play on for at least one more year if he wants to captain his country again after leading them to victory in 2015. He admits that’s an obvious target, but isn’t putting any definite time-frame on how long he wants to continue playing for.

“I’m hoping to be (around next year),” he said. “My attitude on retirement is if you’ve something more to add or something different to somebody else to bring to the party then you’re of value. Until Jim or whoever the manager is or I feel that I haven’t enough to add or there are lads who can do more than me or if I’m not enjoying it that’s when you make the call. I feel like I’ve loads to add, I feel fit, the body feels good.

“The International Rules things, I really enjoyed it last year. To captain your country was a phenomenal experience and to bring home the Cormac McAnallen Cup, to keep it in Ireland, was brilliant as well because as you know the Australian team they had out was phenomenal.  They were coming over to put respect back into Australia and planning to bring the cup home.

“To keep it here was brilliant. If I got another chance, I’d love another trip across there. I’ve never had got across there. It’s on the bucket list and I know Joe has a great management team there as well and hopefully something that I want to grow and get to the levels it was at. To be able to play for your country in any shape or form is a great thing to be able to do. It’s not something that should be done lightly.”

*** SuperValu has announced its continued support of GAA, both as renewed sponsor of the All-Ireland GAA Football Championship until 2019, and with the continuation of its Kit for Kids initiative for 2016. Supervalu will award juvenile O’Neills kits worth €360,000 to over 400 clubs around the county this summer. Taking place in over 130 SuperValu stores nationwide and running until the 13th of July, shoppers will receive Kit for Kids tokens which can be donated to their chosen club at in-store collection points.  For more information on how to get involved visit www.supervalu.ie, follow @SuperValuIRL on Twitter, @SuperValu_IRL on Instagram and on Facebook www.facebook.com/SuperValuIreland.**