Paul Mannion might have entered 2023 knowing that it could be a special year.
He left the Dublin setup in 2021, off the back of the immortal six-in-a-row (for Mannion, it was "only" five, as he missed 2015 studying in China). He therefore missed the semi-final defeats to Mayo in 2021 and then Kerry in 2022.
It was while watching that Kerry defeat from Boston that Mannion was motivated to return to the Dublin camp, and his return was announced as early as September 2022 by manager Dessie Farrell, along with that of fellow absentee Jack McCaffrey.
Both were crucial to Dublin this season, along with goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton, whose shock reappearance in March cemented the "get the old band back together again" feeling of 2023. The Dubs returned to the podium in the Hogan Stand with Sam Maguire in July, for the first time since that frosty winter's night of 2020 when Mannion had played his last game in sky blue in the All-Ireland final against Mayo.
30 July 2023; Paul Mannion of Dublin kicks a point, under pressure from Kerry's Jason Foley, during the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile
Mannion's performance in the All-Ireland final against Kerry this year earned him the Sunday Game's man-of-the-match award, and he has now been named the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month in Football - Final.
In an exclusive interview with Balls.ie this week, Mannion spoke about what drove him on his return to the Dublin camp, his affection for manager Dessie Farrell, and his frustration at the continuing debate surrounding the GAA's implementation of a split club-county season.
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Paul Mannion speaks out in favour of split season
Paul Mannion was not only the standout Dublin player in the All-Ireland final but, from centre-forward, his 0-05 (0-04 from play) outscored every player on the pitch, as he returned to the intercounty scene with a bang in 2023.
Speaking to Balls.ie this week, after being crowned the PwC GAA/GPA Player of the Month in Football - Final, Mannion said that Sam Maguire was not on his mind when he decided to rejoin the Dublin panel - instead, merely a desire to contribute all he could, in order to drive this team on after the hurt of successive semi-final defeats:
It was honestly not something I came back for, the All-Ireland medal, but it's a nice bonus. I wanted to just come back in and give what I can to the team and to the management. So, to be able to top it off with an All-Ireland is definitely sweet.
Hurt was part of it [Dublin’s motivation].
Very palatable was this sense that we were, we were actually so, so close. We were not that far away and there were probably large parts of the country [that] felt that we were – there was a real strong belief that we were not far away at all. So that was definitely one of the most positive things I think.
Coming back in and seeing that – the hunger and determination that was there from the team to get it right and to improve was clear to see for sure.
Mannion had already enjoyed great success in 2023 before his return to intercounty football even began.
He started at corner-forward for Kilmacud Crokes in January's (somewhat infamous) club football final, scoring 0-01 as Crokes claimed their third All-Ireland senior crown.
22 January 2023; Paul Mannion of Kilmacud Crokes celebrates with the Andy Merrigan Cup after his side's victory in the the AIB GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Club Championship Final match between Watty Graham's Glen of Derry and Kilmacud Crokes of Dublin at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
As an All-Ireland winner at both club and intercounty level, Mannion has had a 2023 to remember, and the new split-season format has allowed him to fully commit to his responsibilities with Crokes and Dublin for either half of the year.
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It is understandable, therefore, that Mannion is a huge supporter of the new split-season format. He tells us that he has grown immensely frustrated with the ongoing narrative surrounding the new arrangement of the football calendar, and says that it has only been a positive for players at both club and county level:
It actually bugs me a bit hearing pundits and media folk go on like, “oh, we didn't have a chance to promote these games well,” like this kind of nonsense. The split season was brought in for players, and to give club players and county players a chance to focus on both. I think it's been welcomed by everyone.
There were times when the [intercounty] season was ending at the end of September or early October for no reason. You had weeks between games and then a club season squished in. It's disrespectful almost to hear some people giving out about not having a chance to promote games and this kind of stuff.
They forget about the reason this kind of format was introduced in the first place. So, I don't think it's necessarily the time frame and that kind of 67-month window that's hindering attendances or viewers, that kind of thing.
I think that the format this year maybe wasn't totally optimized and that's been well documented. But the GAA definitely deserve a lot of credit for trying to find something new and trying to find, you know, an optimal format that keeps players happy, that keeps supporters happy.
I'm sure that there will be a few more tweaks to it, but that's all you can do. Try something new, get to the end of the season, review, and then try and improve. I'm sure we'll get to a space where everyone is happy.
Once Mannion did return to the Dublin squad, he did not take long to establish himself as a crucial part of manager Dessie Farrell's setup.
Farrell has faced criticism from some pundits during his tenure as Dublin manager, and many players spoke after the final win against Kerry in July about how much of an influence the Na Fianna man had had - not only on their 2023 success, but on their careers as a whole.
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Paul Mannion is one of those players who has come up under Farrell's tutelage. He played under Farrell at minor level - winning a Leinster title in 2011 - before winning an under-21 All-Ireland with Farrell at the helm in 2014.
19 December 2020; Paul Mannion and Dublin manager Dessie Farrell celebrate following the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Dublin and Mayo at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The pair have now won two All-Ireland senior medals together, and Mannion sums up why so many Dublin players seemed to stick up for Farrell in the aftermath of this season's memorable win.
I know Dessie so well obviously from under-21 and from minor. He’s an extremely emotional kind of manager and management style. He feels so passionate and he cares so much about Dublin and Dublin football and it's hard not to be inspired by that and it's hard not to have that kind of rub off on you.
He's really good at finding different ways to kind of to inspire people in that way and to get them to feel that connection to Dublin and to their teammates to understand their “why” and their motivation. He's a brilliant, brilliant leader in that sense and everyone who would have been involved with the team over the last couple of years would have known how much he cared.
I've seen the kind of criticism that the team has took and known how difficult it would have been for Dessie to take that as well. It’s just a mark of the man that he wanted to come back and give it another go this year again. There were times – probably after the Kerry game – it seemed to be kind of up and down but…he has massive resilience and leadership and determination in himself as well.
Everyone on the team and everyone that has been involved with it and everyone who knows him was just so happy for him as well.
It's hard to describe the returns of Stephen Cluxton or Jack McCaffrey for 2023 as anything other than unequivocal successes, with Dublin taking home a 31st Sam Maguire at the end of July.
30 July 2023; Paul Mannion of Dublin, right, celebrates with teammate Stephen Cluxton after the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Dublin and Kerry at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
And for Paul Mannion, that same fact is true, with the forward enjoying his most successful season yet as a footballer. What would cap that off would be a fourth All-Star - by no means out of the question, especially after his sensational performance in the final.
It is put to Mannion that he has only ever lost one championship game with Dublin - that infamous 2014 semi-final against Donegal - and he is asked whether these kinds of statistics, or the hunt for an eighth All-Ireland medal in 2024, are the kind of records that spur him on:
I hadn’t thought of that…I don’t think too much about the medals either, to be honest. It is kind of cool when you realize that Fitzy and Jamesie and Clucko hit nine All-Irelands and set that kind of record. I was like, “wow, that is incredible.”
But yeah, I need to pinch myself still sometimes just to remember what I have won, and to remind myself how lucky I've been to be a part of that. I said a long time ago – anything from here on out is a bonus. That's maybe not an elite winner mentality in some ways.
I just love being part of the team, being part of a team that's trying to push and be the best you can be. If it brings more success, then great.
If he keeps playing the way he's playing, you wouldn't be surprised if more medals and accolades are on the way for Paul Mannion.
Featured image: Sportsfile
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