Michael Darragh Macauley believes last year’s All-Ireland semi-final loss has “put a fire” in Dublin and is backing the Blues to return to the Championship summit this summer.
Now 35, the all-action midfielder called it quits at intercounty level in January of last year, thus joining the All-Star exodus over the past three years that has forced the all-conquering Dubs to transform and rebuild.
Macauley is fresh off a six-month hiatus that gave him the opportunity to see the world, partly satisfying a wanderlust he had to contain during his Dublin years.
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“It was fun, lots of fun,” he smiled. “Just acting the maggot in loads of different countries.
“There are pros and cons to playing for Dublin — the pros always outweigh the cons and that’s why I stayed there.
“But one of the big cons was that I never went travelling with my friends. A lot of them did Australia, South America, Central America, did all those fun things that I just didn’t get a chance to do.
“That’s just one of the hits you take but there are so many positives that it’s worth it.
“That was always going to be on my to-do list, to get away afterwards.
“But I’ve had a very fun decade, a very fun decade! Even though I didn’t travel as much as I would have wanted to, I wouldn’t change it. There’s plenty of time for that going forward.
“I’m just happy to wave my Dublin flag now on the sidelines.”
The Ballyboden clubman was present at the Dubs’ recent Leinster Championship victories over Wexford and Meath.
The eight-time All-Ireland winner sees a ruthless edge returning to Dessie Farrell’s side.
“I would’ve put money on Dublin to win that game,” said Macauley of the Mayo defeat.
“It’s definitely put a fire in them now. It’s going to be interesting to see how they respond but they’ve been strong so far.
“Of course they can win the All-Ireland. Dublin will be in the mix, for sure.
“That was one of the best offensive displays I’ve seen in a long time, the last day.
“The opposition was what it was the last day, they weren’t what we expected from Meath unfortunately — but Meath were also unlucky to get Dublin on a night when their scoring efficiency was off the charts.
“Having that clinical edge will be huge going down the stretch this year.”
However, Macauley acknowledges that Leinster hasn’t been competitive for some time.
If Dublin beat Kildare on Saturday in the provincial decider it will be 12 years since they last lost a Leinster final, and lost in the province at all.
“I lose track of all the changes they make in the GAA, they keep talking about changing provincial structures and I don’t know where it’s going to land,” said Macauley, himself a 10-time Leinster title winner.
“I don’t have the magic answer myself but I know the provincials haven’t been as competitive for the last number of years, but that could change soon and people will stop complaining about it. We’ll see.”
Macauley will be hosting a Legends Tour in Croke Park on Saturday morning, just hours ahead of the Leinster decider.
“God knows who wants to come and hear me talk nonsense, but it should be a bit of fun,” he laughed.
One big opinion he does have on the GAA is that it has a way to go yet in terms of inclusion.
The NEIC Community Sport and Wellness Co-ordinator saw first hand what can be done when sport encourages better relations between communities through last year’s joint Football for Unity project between NEIC SARI.
This year bigger numbers will be able to watch and participate in the six-week long festival, which starts on June 6.
As for the GAA’s response to bring new communities on board, Macauley assessed: “I’d say improving is probably the word but definitely not there yet.
“I don’t think there’s probably a good enough representation in terms of the multicultural mix that Ireland is at the moment, in terms of what we see at the top levels of senior football.
“And not even just inter-county football, even within the club scene. There’s definitely some work to do there.”
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