Late bloomer Hogan now setting Tullamore standards

Declan Hogan will be seen as the number one firefighter in the Tullamore defence in their county final against Ferbane

Declan Hogan of Offaly leads his side out to the pitch before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Offaly and Meath at Glenisk O'Connor Park in Tullamore, Offaly. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

As a teenager, Declan Hogan played with Offaly development squads, he lined out at centre back when the Faithful County lost to Longford in the Leinster minor final of 2010, and he made his adult debut for Tullamore later that year.

But while he also played U-21 with Offaly, he became that most rare of things in the modern intercounty game – a late bloomer. His intercounty senior debut was eight years ago, but injury curtailed his development, and it was only at the age when many other intercounty players would say that they were at their peak, that he started to gather momentum.