Jack McCaffrey reveals journey to ‘a dark place’ before Dublin return
When Jim Gavin spoke after Dublin’s defeat of Galway on Saturday about his players being so “selfless with their time” and energy, it smacked of an empty post-match sound-byte.
Perhaps he had Jack McCaffrey in mind, however, with the 2015 Footballer of the Year putting down a gruelling few months to return to the very highest level with Dublin.
“Hands down the toughest thing I’ve had to do in sport,” is McCaffrey’s summary of his recovery and rehabilitation following the cruciate knee ligament injury he suffered in last year’s All-Ireland final.
Colleague Bernard Brogan has made it seem like almost a trivial injury, returning after five and a half months to play for Dublin, but it was almost nine months in McCaffrey’s case, a period that combined with his final year as a medical student.
It’s the hardest work I’ve ever had to put in but it’s been really, really rewarding, and it’s great to have been involved in days like Saturday and now leading up to a final, knowing that you really put in a good shift to get there and that it’s coming to fruition,” said McCaffrey.
“It was just a completely different challenge for me. Usually, I really enjoy football and there’s always a good buzz in training. You’re working hard but it never feels like hard work. When you’re on your own in the gym and just meeting up with the physio to do a bit of running, it’s a very different challenge and you have to go to a bit of a dark place at times and power through it. It was the first time I’ve ever had to do that and, touch wood, the last time, but I think it’s stood to me.”
McCaffrey said the hardest part of the recovery, that darkest place, was actually on the field of play when he returned to play for his club Clontarf against Fingallians in a league game.
“I came on at half-time and I was just brutal, I was really upset,” said the twice All-Star wing-back. “I was so excited and it was always in the back of your head thinking that you’ll come back and score 3-6 or something but it didn’t happen like that.
Looking back on it, if you’re being realistic, it was always going to take a while to get back but at that time I still had work to do on my fitness but I also wanted to be playing and getting back in the frame for team selection so there’s a slight danger you can fall between two stools and I found that really challenging.
McCaffrey returned as a sub against Longford in the Championship and came on again in the Leinster final before starting all their Super 8s games and last weekend’s semi-final win over Galway.
Life is good again for the 24-year-old who is working with the paediatric team in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda.
His performance against Galway at Croke Park was his best since returning and he is happy to report he’s lost none of his trademark burst of pace.
“My raw speed probably isn’t that (great), like, my strength would always be running with the ball as opposed to pure running,” said McCaffrey. “Paul Mannion would be quicker than I would be in terms of pure running. It was something I was worried about and it’s only when you get out at Croke Park and you get a ball in your hand and you just go that you finally feel it’s there again and you’re back. I think I’m similar enough to how I was (before the injury).”
McCaffrey’s searing pace will be one of many deadly weapons in Dublin’s arsenal on All-Ireland final day.
You have to pay Tyrone the respect they’re due and look at how you’re going to deal with their strengths,” said the three-time All-Ireland winner. “We’ll do a good bit of looking at Tyrone over the next two weeks and maybe the week of the game and start turning the focus back to ourselves then.
Few give Tyrone much hope. The expectation is McCaffrey, who drowned his sorrows at the post-final banquet last year following the injury, will be drunk on four-in-a-row success this time.
What’s certain, according to McCaffrey, is that he will enjoy the build-up and the experience of running out on the biggest day in Irish sport.
“The parades around Croke Park are the coolest thing ever,” he smiled. “I just feel like a child going around. Everyone has found their own individual stuff that helps them to perform and, for me, I’ve found it’s all about being relaxed and not tense and not too focused on things.”
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