Dub collective feeds on drive of individuals

For over 100 years, ‘the bench’ was sport’s version of purgatory. A transition point between oblivion and opportunity. Dublin have done their utmost to change that perception and promote a squad ethos, but a reputation earned isn’t easy shed.

Just ask Kevin McManamon. Jim Gavin’s talk of ‘esprit de corp’ and assertions that numbers on backs must mean little to a man for whom it all too often takes two or more afternoons to amass 70 minutes.

It was his defining contribution as part of Pat Gilroy’s replacement blue wave that dragged Dublin over the finishing line against Kerry in the 2011 All-Ireland final, his 64th-minute goal teeing up Stephen Cluxton’s famous winning free.