When you think about Kevin McManamon, it’s hard not to think about the 2011 All-Ireland final against Kerry, and that famous goal. The pass from Alan Brogan. The swerve around a dazed Declan O’Sullivan. The low shot past Brendan Kealy. The Hill erupting.

McManamon, whose blinding pace has earned him the nickname ‘The Blur’, repeated the trick in the 2013 semi-final against Kerry and hit the net in the 2015 All-Ireland semi-final and replay against Mayo. All crucial goals in clutch situations at Croke Park.   

If McManamon has developed a reputation as Dublin’s go-to man in a desperate situation at Croke Park, it hasn’t always been that way.

Now in his seventh year on the Dublin panel, the 29-year-old thinks back to his debut season and, particularly, to his championship debut against Wexford in the summer of 2010.

Having made his name with a number of fine performances in the Spring Series earlier that year, then manager Pat Gilroy handed McManamon the No. 15 jersey for the championship opener.

It was the fulfillment of McManamon’s lifetime ambition. His father, Maxi, was a well-known player for Templeogue Synge Street and had played a bit of league football for Dublin while his older brother, Brendan, had also worn the navy and sky blue.      

“It’s something I found very difficult — when I started my career — was to play in Croke Park. I found it a little daunting. Particularly in 2010. I didn’t deal with the pressure very well. I was very nervous,” McManamon admits.

 

“All I wanted at that point was to play a championship match for Dublin. So I could have one up on my Da! That’s all I wanted to do growing up - all I ever wanted was to play for Dublin.

“It’s amazing that goal disappeared and there’s now a goal every year. It was just overwhelming that day with 50,000 people shouting at me. It was a sticky day, playing against Wexford here, and I was taken off at half-time on my debut.

“I wasn’t myself, I didn’t feel loose, nerves and negative thoughts overtook me.

“Luckily I learned how to deal with it by 2011, I think I got five games in Croker that year and that was it then. That was it banished. That was the monkey off my back.

“I learned to embrace the atmosphere, to love Croke Park, rather than have any edge of doubt or worry in my game, which was what happened in 2010.”

McManamon may be a darling of the Hill now, but he has yet to earn manager Jim Gavin’s full faith, and his goalscoring exploits off the bench in both semi-finals against Mayo have simply underscored his reputation as the ultimate impact sub.  

To put McManamon’s position into perspective, he has failed to start any of the three All-Ireland finals Dublin have played in since he joined the squad, coming on as a sub in 2011 (51 mins), 2013 (49 mins) and 2015 (half-time).   

The St Jude’s clubman, who has been ruled out of Saturday’s Allianz League opener against Kerry with a shoulder issue, is getting a little tired of the ‘supersub’ tag and says earning a starting place is a “big bullseye” this year.

"I want to do something that I've never done before and that's be a big player for 70 minutes, rather than what I've become accustomed to or what management have decided for me," he says.

"Circumstances have decided as well - players playing better than me in the All-Ireland series - but there's no doubt that that's the goal.

“You mention big players and then you have renowned starters every year — I would love to get in to one of their spots. It would be a nice little feather in the cap if you could get in ahead one of the guys who are seen as the greats. It’s a sticky forward line, no denying it. (I) like a challenge.

“I get on well with Jim (Gavin). He’s a guy who will always listen to your opinion. He will thrash it out with you. I can absolutely say it to him, I have said it to him.

“I would feel that the solution is down to my application and down to me playing well in training in August and September which I haven’t done in years.

“Sometimes it’s a bit lazy to say – the reason he is not starting me is because I make an impact. That’s not the case, I feel like I’m in control of it.”