Three each from Kerry and Cork show St Jude’s is still a country haven in the big city

Pat Spillane junior is one of three Kerry men lining out against Kilmacud Crokes in Sunday's Dublin SFC final

BRED TO BE GOOD: Pat Spillane Jr has begun to maximise his potential at St Jude’s where his willingness to learn has impressed manager Gareth Bourke.  Picture: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

The sweet came before the sour for Pat Spillane Jr earlier this month.

Less than 24 hours after he was instrumental in St Jude’s reaching a third ever Dublin SFC final, his depleted home club Templenoe were being dumped out of the Kerry SFC by Dr Crokes.

The juxtaposition couldn’t have been clearer but reality had to bite. Commuting between Dublin where he works as an assistant brand manager with Lucozade and South Kerry to train and play had become untenable and his transfer to St Jude’s went through early last year.

Speaking to him soon after he switched his allegiances from Templenoe to Templeogue, St Jude’s senior manager Gareth Bourke knew the inner turmoil he faced in making the decision.

“I live in Swords and I find it hard to get my kids across to Judes so I can only imagine how difficult it is for these lads to give up going home but they have to. But then letting go of your home club is easier said than done.

“I think he was trying too hard getting down to Kerry on a Friday then back up and expecting that he could train at a high level at the same time was a big ask. I drive for a living so I know that when you’re on the road that much you’re more prone to injury, your body, your hamstrings are tight.

“He struggled to keep that going with Templenoe. I met him for a coffee after he made the decision — he just knew he wasn’t doing himself justice going up and down. A good few of the lads decided they had to make the jump to Jude’s because the travelling was killing them.”

Pat Spillane during his heyday with Kerry. Picture: INPHO/James Meehan

Son of eight-time All-Ireland winner Pat Sr, Spillane Jr’s talent was recognised when he was part of an AFL Combine six years ago. Two months later, he came off the bench for Templenoe in their All-Ireland junior football final win over Ardnaree Sarsfields and was again among the substitutes for the All-Ireland intermediate semi-final loss to Oughterard in January of last year.

It’s in Jude’s where he has begun to maximise his potential. “He came in last year and when players come to Jude’s we don’t like to put pressure on them so he started with the intermediates,” explains Bourke. “But when you see a player with that kind of a leg on him you really have to take a look and coming into the quarter-finals we brought him in.

“It was purely based on how he impressed with the inters and we didn’t have a player who could kick a long point from outside the 45 and sometimes that is what it comes down to, especially as the competition increases.

“He was that option for us last year but this year with the benefit of league games he has taken it to another level. It’s tough coming into our team, it’s tough learning how we play but Pat has been an absolute joy and has always shown a willingness to learn.

“He’s always great for video feedback and things like that. He’s had a tough year in terms of coaching feedback but he keeps coming back and I had the biggest smile on my face when he won the man of the match award the last day because he totally deserved it.”

Spillane lined out with fellow Kerrymen Jack McGuire (Listowel Emmets) and David Mannix (Austin Stacks) the last day. They too took some time to get acquainted with their new surroundings.

“The famous words from Jack McGuire and David Mannix when they walked into the gym was ‘you can’t kick a dumbbell over the bar, lads’. The irony of that is if you looked at the two now compared to what they looked like two years ago when they started with us, they’re probably the most ripped on the team. We learn a lot from each other. Thanks to them, we can play football a bit better and thanks to what we had in the club they are able to look after themselves a bit better.”

Including the Cork trio of Niall and Brian Coakley (Carrigaline) and Alex Hassett (Ilen Rovers), Jude’s have at least eight non-Dublin players in the panel while the likes of veteran midfielder Seamie Ryan, one of five players to be playing a third final in as many decades tomorrow, have proud Tipperary lineage.

Established in 1978, Judes’s identity as a country club in Dublin remains strong. Among their membership are newly-appointed Laois manager Billy Sheehan originally Austin Stacks, former GAA PRO Danny Lynch from Dingle, and ex -Irish Independent GAA editor Martin Breheny who hails from Kilkerrin in Galway.

“Jude’s was set up by country people for the benefit of country people who had moved to Dublin for work, teachers etc,” Bourke says.

“Those clubs then have better links to country clubs. Jude’s has a great reputation of not having cliques, that when you come up to play football here you do just that, you enjoy it and we have been successful too. We struggled for a minor football panel a couple of years ago but people are beginning to move back into the area now and we’re experiencing a resurgence of young people. Our academy is back to 50 boys and 50 girls but there were lean times.”