Why Pat Spillane will be cheering for St Jude's this weekend

The Kerry legend's son, Pat, is amongst a strong Kerry contingent playing for the Templeogue outfit in Sunday's county final against Kilmacud Crokes

Wed, 17 Nov, 2021 - 06:00

Paul Keane

They’ll party hard in Templeogue if St Jude's win their first Go-Ahead Dublin SFC title this Sunday but they’ll also break out the champagne in parts of Cork and Kerry.

The Wellington Lane club has benefited from the influence of several players from the two Munster football strongholds, as well as players from Kildare and Antrim.

Dublin great Kevin McManamon is the best known current Jude's player but Cork trio Niall Coakley, Brian Coakley, and Alex Hassett along with Kerry men David Mannix, Jack McGuire, and Pat Spillane are also key figures.

Throw in current Antrim player Mark Sweeney and former Kildare defender Ciaran Fitzpatrick, and you have an eclectic mix of non-native talents.

New Laois manager Billy Sheehan, a Kerryman, was part of the Jude's squad when they contested their last final in 2018, losing to Sunday’s opponents Kilmacud Crokes, though team captain and current Dublin player Tom Lahiff says it’s simply good luck that so many talented countrymen have arrived in recent years.

“We’d never go out and look for players or anything like that,” said Lahiff. “What happens is that someone joins and moves to Dublin for work reasons and they set up in Templeogue or near enough and they usually just potter up and look to join the team.

Tom Lahiff of St Judes ahead of the Go-Ahead Dublin SFC final against Kilmacud Crokes. Picture: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

“If they buy into what we’re doing, our culture and values, and are willing to put the head down and work as much as anybody else, then they’re given a fair crack at it.”

Mannix is a former Austin Stacks player in Kerry and put Jude's on the road to victory against Lucan Sarsfields in the semi-finals with a series of early points.

“Dave has been a great addition to us this year,” said Lahiff. “Both from frees and from play, he gives us a lot. That was something we didn’t have in previous years so he’s definitely been a huge addition.

“For anyone who comes in, we don’t see them as the country lads or whatever. It’s one team. They’ve all bought in. Pat Spillane has been another good addition this year, Jack McGuire at full-back has tightened things up even more.”

Midfielder Spillane, son of the Kerry great of the same name, excelled in the defeat of Lucan with three booming points.

“Pat’s just been a revelation this year in midfield,” said Lahiff. “To be honest, I don’t know how he turned up at Jude's. He was just there one evening and that was it. There was no link or anything about that, I don’t think. As far as I know he just showed up one day and the rest is history.”

Lahiff himself has played 11 times for Dublin across 2020 and 2021. At 26, he is a late developer having initially focused on soccer with Bray Wanderers. “Playing in England or playing for Ireland would have been my dream back then,” he said. “As it wasn’t coming to fruition, I wasn’t enjoying my soccer as much as I was the GAA. I just decided I’d drop the soccer altogether and give the GAA a bit of a crack.”