Philly McMahon
By John Harrington
This Dublin team just doesn’t know when it’s beaten.
Three times in this year’s League they rescued a draw from the jaws of defeat with late rallies against Tyrone, Donegal, and Kerry.
And then last Sunday they produced their best comeback yet of the campaign by recovering from six points down against Monaghan in the second-half to win by three.
What was most impressive about Dublin’s reaction to going that far behind against Monaghan was their utter calm.
There was no sign of panic, they stuck to the game-plan, and eventually they found a way to win the match.
“I suppose it's been ingrained in us from experience that we continue on and we don't stop until the final whistle no matter what,” says Dublin defender Philly McMahon.
“If there's one thing that we want to be able to say to ourselves after a game, it's that we just didn't stop.
“If we got beaten, then okay, as long as we tried right to the end. And then we can work on what we need to work on for the following game.”
Every team is told before they go out to give their all right to the final whistle regardless of the circumstances.
It’s an easy thing to say and an easy thing to promise to do, but not so easy to build a team culture with that maxim at the heart of it.
“No, it's not,” agrees McMahon. “You've got to experience it to be able to adapt to it. I'm not saying you have to be experience being beaten to know how to develop the character in a team to never give up.
“It's moreso about that lads know what they should do and don't go off on their own tangent.
“When your backs are against the wall, generally players think, 'I need to do something special here to get us back on track', and go off and do their own thing. But that separates the structure of your team and separates your tactics even more.
“Whereas if lads know that they have to do the job they have been given right until the end, then it does help.
“If you've got players that have experienced adversity outside of football, then they're certainly going to be able to do it on the pitch, and that's something that I have anyway.
“If every player shows that mental toughness and makes that right decision, you claw it back, claw it back, claw it back and eventually you get the result.”
Philly McMahon enjoyed another productive year for Dublin.
This Dublin team has now gone 36 matches unbeaten in the League and Championship.
As much as the players say the record doesn’t matter to them, McMahon admits he’s very aware he’s part of a special era for Dublin football.
“Look, there's no doubt,” he says. “Put the records aside, there's no doubt that I definitely feel lucky to be part of a group that's so special, in my eyes, because of what we've achieved. There's no hiding that.
“Growing up, the Dublin teams that I would have looked up to would have found it hard to beat teams like Tyrone and Kerry.
“Is it luck that you're born in a certain year? Maybe. That you have the chance to play with this team. If I was born a few years earlier I'd probably have nothing in my back pocket in terms of medals.
“It's great, and long may it last, but I don't think that it will.”
Dublin’s productive underage structures and sheer weight of playing numbers means they’ll always been one of the elite gaelic football counties.
But McMahon is probably right when he says their current level of dominance won’t last.
Because even though talented young players are always emerging in the county, many of the key personnel in the current team, McMahon included, are the sort of special talents and characters that only come along every so often.
“There's really important characters within the changing room,” says McMahon.
“Jim has created a good balance of people. They're good people in the changing room, and they're good people outside of it too.
“I don't want to be robbing the All Blacks line - good people make good All Blacks - but essentially that's what have with this Dublin team. We'd like to think that we're good people on the pitch and good people off the pitch.”
For now, McMahon and his Dublin team-mates are determined to make hay while the sun keeps shining on them.
Philly McMahon
Sunday’s Allianz League Final against Kerry is another big day, and McMahon enjoy the buzz like he always does.
“Oh yeah, Jesus, I do, yeah. You've got to realise that there's 30 players on the pitch and you're one out of 30 that can experience this energy.
“Everybody in the stand experience an energy, but not the same one you do as a player. So you've got to be grateful for that. I'm certainly grateful for wearing the Dublin jersey.
“You look at our fans, week in week out, they're crazy. They're singing their hearts out every week. Again, we're grateful for these things. We're grateful that we're able to represent our counties, our communities, our family, and our friends.
“Representing the wider Dublin community is what we play it for. It's why we love putting on the Dublin jersey. It's why we love trying to perform each game.”
