Andrews learnt his lesson the hard way

What would you tell your 20-year-old self? It’s only five years since Paddy Andrews was that age, but he’d have plenty of counsel for his younger version.

Bring him back to the 2009 Leinster final and the photograph of the then corner-back after the game gesturing to the camera the five consecutive provincial titles Dublin had annexed.

He winces at the memory.

Four weeks later and Kerry handed Andrews his backside. He has not played in the full-back line since. “Did you see that match? Colm Cooper owes me an All Star!”

When people trump up Dublin’s chances of winning tomorrow he need only remind himself of that harsh lesson when Kerry had been almost as unfancied as Donegal. Yes, a lot has changed since then for Andrews the footballer, moving from gamekeeper to poacher. But just how much has he developed as a person?

“Quite a bit, I’d say. You were only young, 19 and 20 years of age. I’m 26 now, I’m getting old! You just grow up, you have to do that. I think I’ve become a better player as part of that, with that experience.

“Maybe I was a bit naive when I was younger but I suppose that happens when you’re younger. I’m long enough around now to know the best things to do to help you and to help you perform to the level you can get to.”

Andrews doesn’t exactly take a swing at either Paul Caffrey or Pat Gilroy but his message is obvious when he thanks Jim Gavin for helping him revive his inter-county career.

“In all fairness to Jim, it’s great that he believes in me and knows my best position and given me a chance to do that.”

Like his older brother Peadar, Andrews had been pigeon-holed as a defender by the aforementioned managers and at DCU.

“A lot of guys came into the college and a lot of them were unbelievable forwards. Michael Murphy, David Kelly from Sligo and all these guys came in so they nearly had to find places for guys [like me]. I went back into the backs and it snowballed from there for a few years. I was only a young fella. I learned a lot from it.”

He missed out on the 2011 All-Ireland success for, as he admits, “being a bit of a kid, you know yourself”. But later that year he led the line for St Brigid’s in their 2011 Dublin SFC success, re-enforcing Gavin’s belief that Andrews was a forward.

The manager didn’t have to say much to make Andrews appreciate another chance.

“You don’t really need a manager to tell you these things. If he has confidence in you on the training pitch and in matches, like, if you’re picked in this Dublin team and you see some of the calibre of guys that are on the bench, you must know the manager has confidence in you. Because we have got some fantastic guys. You don’t need someone to come over and put their arm around you and tell you you’re this or that. That’s not Jim’s style. Nobody on the team requires that and we don’t ask for that to happen.”

Andrews hasn’t started just one game this summer,having suffered from a groin injury in the league and then damaging his wrist in the Leinster quarter-final win over Laois.

The tough love mentality espoused by Gavin is something he subscribes to. “He’s in the strong position of being able to say to the six forwards who get the jersey that they have to work really hard as well and if they don’t, there is X, Y and Z on the bench pushing to come in. That’s the real benefit of the amount of competition there is.

“Nobody can rest on their laurels, not one player. You’re never there with the thought, ‘I might not go that hard in training tonight’, or, ‘I might not kill myself in this run’.

“Because there are so many guys there to take your place. Mick Macauley called it disgusting — I’d say it’s a very good thing because it makes the team perform better.”

Playing on a team whose lowest tally this summer is 2-21 also has its pluses. Andrews’ transition from defender to forward couldn’t have come at a better time. “You enjoy going training, it’s not a chore. People talk about inter-county football and how there’s such time constraints. I go straight from work, but it is not a bother because it’s enjoyable out there.

“And of course when you’re winning that makes it a lot easier as well. It’s certainly fun.”

The Davy Stockbrokers dealer mightn’t have been around to experience Donegal’s double-quilted blanket defence in 2011 but he assures that he and the rest of the forwards are braced for whatever comes their way.

“I suppose we probably had a bit of experience with it with the Monaghan game, which was actually good to get for those first 20, 25 minutes. It could be something similar on Sunday. “

DUBLIN: S Cluxton (Parnells); M Fitzsimons (Cuala), R O’Carroll (Kilmacud Crokes), P McMahon (Ballymun Kickhams); J McCarthy (Ballymun Kickhams), J Cooper (Na Fianna), M Devereux (Ballinteer St John's); MD MacAuley (Ballyboden St Enda's), C O’Sullivan (Kilmacud Crokes); P Flynn (Fingallians), K McManamon (St Jude's), D Connolly (St Vincent's); A Brogan (Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh), E O’Gara (Templeogue/Synge Street), B Brogan (Oliver Plunkett's/Eoghan Ruadh.