Dublin star Philly McMahon has opened up about the difficult year he has endured with the passing of his father and how the sport helped him through it whilst also praising the entire Dublin squad for driving standards each year.
The men from the capital completed a famous four-in-a-row on Sunday to join the great Wexford and Kerry teams as the best of the best the sport has ever seen and McMahon was up early to talk to OTBAM about how each of the wins all compare.
"It's the same as the last one as I'm the only sober one and have to get up and do the media!" he told Ger, adding "But yeah, I don't really compare them and I don't really look at the three or the four - it's, for me, we had the opportunity to put smiles on the Dublin people's faces and we done it yesterday.
"The last two years have been tough - my dad got diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half ago and obviously passed away this year so it's great to have sport as a distraction when you have a family member that's terminally ill.
"The support I've gotten from the Dublin community, certainly my Dublin teammates and the management team has been a great distraction for me, so to get the gift last year of my dad seeing me win an All-Ireland - that was the last time he'd see it so for me to do it this year and be a small part of it for other people was huge for me.
"We're very grateful to be able to do that, to put the jersey on and put joy onto people's faces, I suppose."
"I was thinking about my dad."
An emotional Philly McMahon on what the four-in-a-row means for him and his family. #Dublin #DublinGAA #AllIreland #Dublin4Sam pic.twitter.com/5mzbcOfty5
— Off The Ball (@offtheball) September 2, 2018
"When my dad was alive, it was something in my head that it was helping him fight on, to get to the matches and stuff like that.
"It can be a distraction in a bad way but once you use it the right way, it can motivate you so for me, I'm just absolutely delighted that I was able to achieve what I achieved with what has happened.
"We, kind of, say it every year that the competition is probably what drives us forward and ultimately gives us that All-Ireland title.
"Again every year there's new lads coming in and they're adding so much energy to the group and that proved again this year with the lads - you look at the bench this year and there's probably two or three other forwards that could have been brought on.
"Unfortunately it was three defenders, a midfielder and two forwards so Jim does a great job, the management do a great job at making sure they add energy to the squad, to the players and the lads bought into a really positive and strong culture so that's what keeps the competition alive."
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