Gaelic Games

Jack McCaffrey pinning his hopes on a Dublin call-up

After a summer spent travelling in Africa, the medical student knows how difficult it will be

Jack McCaffrey, seen in action in the 2015 All Ireland final in Croke Park, has said he would like to return to the Dublin team, but has not been called up yet. Photograph: Donall Farmer/INPHO
Jack McCaffrey, seen in action in the 2015 All Ireland final in Croke Park, has said he would like to return to the Dublin team, but has not been called up yet. Photograph: Donall Farmer/INPHO
Paul Keane
Thu Dec 08 2016 - 10:23

Some day soon, one presumes, Jack McCaffrey's phone is going to buzz and Jim Gavin is going to be on the other end of the line.

It hasn’t happened yet though, and exactly a month out from Dublin’s first game of 2017, an O’Byrne Cup opener against DCU, that may be a little worrying.

McCaffrey withdrew from the Dublin panel earlier this year, just months after being crowned Footballer of the Year, and spent the summer in Africa.

There was a stint with Goal in Ethiopia and some voluntary work in a Zambian hospital for the medical student, as well as journeys through Kenya, Malawi and Tanzania.

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Wanderlust

Remarkable adventures indeed and McCaffrey is adamant that he doesn’t regret them, though indulging his wanderlust did allow John Small to steal into his wing half-back position and lock down the jersey.

What’s certain right now, McCaffrey noted, is that he will play football for some team in Dublin next summer, his native Clontarf or the back-to-back All-Ireland champions. More than that, he simply can’t say.

“No,” he replied when asked if manager Gavin had made any contact. “I’ve been playing away with the club. I think the lads are going on their holiday later than they usually would. No, I’m just doing my own thing with UCD now.”

He does still want to play for Dublin though, right?

“Yeah, definitely,” said McCaffrey. “I’m going to be in Dublin playing football for somebody next summer, so I’d love to get back in.”

Presuming McCaffrey does return shortly, he will have a job of work to break back into the first team. Small was Man of the Match in the drawn All-Ireland final and throughout the team there are players looking over their shoulders, particularly in attack, where Cormac Costello and Con O’Callaghan are eyeing up starting spots.

“That forward line at the moment is probably exceptionally difficult to break into and Cormac has been there two, maybe three years at this stage,” said McCaffrey. “He probably was starting to ... well, he was chomping at the bit anyway, based on the end result we all saw from him.”

That end result was the three-point contribution that the Whitehall man made from the bench against Mayo in the All-Ireland final replay win.

Heroics

McCaffrey’s own heroics in 2013 and 2015 are still strong in the memory, but he joins that list of players now looking to impress. It’s not going to be easy considering Dublin are on a 29-game unbeaten streak across league and Championship.

“I’d imagine the team hasn’t fluctuated much over the course of those 29 games,” he said. “Some of those league games though, you’re winning by a point. I now it’s obviously a massively impressive statistic, you nearly start thinking they must have won every game by 25 points. But that hasn’t been the case.”

For now, McCaffrey will sit tight and hope the call comes. He was at Croke Park on Wednesday for the third level championship draws. A Sigerson Cup medallist earlier this year, he noted their Round 2 draw against IT Sligo/GMIT.

“I’m doing my own stuff but I haven’t got any programme as such,” said McCaffrey, who isn’t quite sure where things go from here. “I haven’t [spoken to Gavin] and I’m not sure what the procedure is. Obviously this year is different with everything shifted back two weeks from the All-Ireland.”