Jack McCaffrey hopeful of getting back in blue in Championship ‘18
Jack McCaffrey didn’t play that day which was probably just as well because he might have held it against Connerton, a close friend from their time at UCD.
The pair renewed acquaintances last November in the strangest of circumstances, in a Dublin hospital, as they awaited knee surgery on the same day.
Both players suffered cruciate knee ligament damage in September, McCaffrey in the All-Ireland final with Dublin and Connerton, son of Longford boss Denis, while playing for his club.
The thing is, while you might expect them to be working closely together now in their respective recoveries, and exchanging notes, ex-Footballer of the Year McCaffrey has absolutely no interest in it.
“It’s just completely individual,” said McCaffrey, a medicine student. “I don’t want to know what stage he is at! And I don’t care! If you tie yourself to something like that, you’re setting yourself up for a fall. You just have to move at your own pace through it.”
It’s why the speedy wing-back is loathe, publicly at least, to announce any return date with Dublin.
He definitely won’t feature in the Allianz League, though some Championship game time as the Dubs chase four All-Irelands in a row seems realistic.
“At some stage, I’d hope so,” said the All-Star. “You are looking at, from All-Ireland final to All-Ireland final, 12 months, and most people I have spoken to who have got back did it under that but, again, I’m not going to pull a date or a game out of the air because I just think you are setting yourself up for a fall, which I don’t want to do.
“Players like Ciaran Kilkenny and Eoghan O’Gara in our team have first-hand experience of the injury and a clubmate of mine did it too. It’s incredibly individual. I remember when Ciaran did his (in 2014), Kevin O’Brien was corner-back at the time and he did his as well, literally a week or two in the difference. When you compare them coming back, there was an astronomical difference.”
O’Brien never returned to those heights while Kilkenny has flourished since his return, developing into one of Dublin’s most important players.
Others have returned from the serious injury to play their best football too, reigning Player of the Year Andy Moran of Mayo being the best example.
McCaffrey, still just 24, believes that he too can come back a stronger player.
“Yeah, definitely,” he enthused. “I’ve probably needed a window of fitness work for years. You just don’t really get it sometimes, between all of the teams you are trying to play with.
“I could probably do with catching up with lads in the gym a bit as well, so there are definitely some positives.
“The one main negative about the whole thing is that it happened in the third minute of the match. If it had happened in the 67th then, to be honest, this would not be the worst thing in the world at all. And it isn’t.
“I’m confident that I’m getting great guidance from our physio and our strength and conditioning staff as to what exercises to do.
“If I come back 100%, having completed a good block of work, you can trade off these blocks of fitness for four or five years nearly.”
The Clontarf man was Footballer of the Year in 2015, when he won his second All-Ireland medal, though hopes to return to the fitness levels of three years earlier, when he first joined the senior panel.
“I was probably playing the best football of my life in 2012,” he said. You could just run all day, whereas more recently, you maybe make six runs — and I’m just pulling that number out of nowhere — in a half. I don’t know if that number is right or wrong but there was a time when I could be marking a man and I’d just go, next play, go, and go. And recently, or relatively recently, you’d be like, ‘Okay, I made a run there, I’ll sit back and mark my man and go again (in a while)’.
“Probably a bit of that is just maturity and acknowledging that you need to be fit to do your defensive duties and not just be running around like a headless chicken.
“But I’d love to be able to go out on the pitch and know that I can run up and down for the next 70 minutes, non-stop.”
Denis Mahony Motor Group has renewed its support of Dublin footballers Jack McCaffrey and Noelle Healy. By registering to take a test drive in any Toyota Hybrid model at either of Denis Mahony Toyota branches, drivers can nominate a GAA club of their choice to be in with a chance of winning a training masterclass, led by Jack and Noelle held at their own club. For more info, click here.
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