Jack McCaffrey pictured before the draw of the Independent.ie Sigerson Cup.
By Cian O'Connell
** **
Jack McCaffrey is eager to make a return to inter-county action with Dublin in 2017.
Speaking at the launch of the Independent.ie Higher Education draws McCaffrey confirmed that he hopes to play for Dublin again.
"Yeah, definitely," McCaffrey responded whether he'd like to get involved with the Dubs once more. "I'm going to be in Dublin playing football, for somebody, this summer so I'd love to get back in."
McCaffrey opted out of the Dublin panel in March spending the summer in Africa working as a volunteer. The Clontarf clubman, who has won two All Ireland medals, admitted it was strange to be a spectator for the two absorbing deciders with Mayo.
"The first All-Ireland final was one of the most bizarre games of football I've ever seen," McCaffrey commented. "It was kind of hard to enjoy, just 'cos it was so weird. And obviously I was terrified that Dublin were going to lose.
"But then the second final was a cracking game. And obviously the Kerry semi-final was unbelievable. So it was great to be back as a fan.
"Watching the warm-up you're trying to get a sense of, obviously with dummy teams and things, to see if you can pick up any hints and see who's actually playing.
"The parades and that, it's kind of cool that you know what it's like to be down there, and then to see it from the other perspective - when you're on the pitch you're so focused on the match, your job and whatever, and you kind of forget the sense of occasion for everyone in the stadium.
"So, yeah, it definitely added a different perspective to, it but it was quite enjoyable."
UCD star Jack McCaffrey.
When asked about Dublin's 29 game unbeaten run McCaffrey offers an interesting response. "It's probably one of the core themes of the team is treating every game as very important no matter what time of the year it is," McCaffrey says.
"That probably is one of the reasons feeds into that. It's pretty good going.
"It's probably just because everyone's quite close. That's the biggest thing. You see it especially in college football. A team that's close and gets on well off the pitch, pulls together.
"I don't really know much about the sports psychology side, mental toughness and that sort of craic. But if you're playing with your mates, you kind of go that bit further. That's probably the defining characteristic."
Despite his break from Dublin action McCaffrey did enjoy success with UCD, who claimed Sigerson Cup last February. "I think it was a disgracefully long gap, hint of the Dubs probably from 1995-2011" McCaffrey laughed about UCD's 20 year wait to win the inter-varsity competition.
"It was kind of becoming a monkey on our shoulder. It had been going on for so long.
"Especially in the Dublin set up, you've lads with three or four Sigersons and they'd always be sure to slag you about it come Sigerson time. It's definitely nice to have that slate wiped clean."
