Michael Darragh Macauley says he had some "choice words" with Jim Gavin after he was dropped by Dublin manager in 2015.
The former Footballer of the Year was dropped by Gavin for that year's All-Ireland quarter-final against Fermanagh, and again for the semi-final replay against Mayo.
"I was informed about this at a training camp that we had the week before," Macauley says in his episode of Laochra Gael which's on January 20th at 9:30pm on TG4.
"It was tough. Over the course of my career I've been dropped more than once. That one, I felt hard done by. Whether I was is a completely different story.
"I was never shy of telling Jim that I felt hard done by. I distinctly remember being in a hotel room with him and having choice words. That's the way it is, I'm a competitor, that's how I play the game, I genuinely felt that I was the best person to get us across the line from the start. That was my belief, and that's what I was trying to get across.
"Jim's a tough communicator. He has his own style. Jim keeps to himself. He won't give a whole lot away. I was looking for him to give something away to react to or bite on something. He'd be like an understanding priest, nodding and taking my verbal abuse."
Macauley came on with 25 minutes to play in the replay against Mayo, and had a major impact on the game. Though, it was not enough for Gavin to start him in the final against Kerry.
"The team gets called out, you're not there - the stomach falls out of you," says the eight-time All-Ireland winner.
"You're heartbroken that you're not there. You're trying to process everything - 'What am I doing here?' type of thing. It just takes a while to bring yourself down.
"In that first year [that I was dropped], I didn't do it well enough because in retrospect, you and your ego can't affect the team. It possibly did in a small way in that first year.
"It's tough when it means so much to you, and you're not there. With all of these things, if your ego is bigger than the team, the team won't be successful."
In the show, Macauley also reveals that a cruciate ligament injury which he suffered in 2017 happened while skateboarding at a wedding. It had been thought that the injury occurred during a league game or in training.
"You see, I did it on a skateboard, is the true story," says Macauley.
"In the wee hours of the morning, at a wedding.
"We got back for a semi-final. I ended up playing a few minutes. I was probably just too late getting back into the team. It was tough one to sit out for that final."
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