Yahoo News “He has it all” - Sean Cavanagh names toughest opponent he’s ever played against
Sean Cavanagh has picked out the toughest players he’s played against and he was in action last weekend helping his team secure an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final berth.
Dublin only needed a draw to top Group Two, but they were a point down in stoppage-time after Ryan O’Donoghue’s free.
However, Cormac Costello salvaged a draw in a thriller in Dr Hyde Park after a stunning catch at midfield from Ciaran Kilkennt.
Read more: All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final draw pits Derry against Mayo as pairings are confirmed
Yet, it was Jack McCaffrey’s late cameo that caught Cavanagh’s eye and he says the former Footballer of the Year and six-time All-Star is one of the reason’s Dublin remain “the team to beat” according to the Tyrone legend.
Writing in his weekly Irish Daily Star column, Cavanagh said: “There is this question I get asked all the time.Doesn’t matter where you are or who you are with - the query always crops up - Name the best player you ever played against?
“I’d always give an answer but yesterday I actually gave it some serious thought as I watched Dublin and Mayo trade points right the afternoon.
"The clock was on 50 minutes when the TV camera panned to this bushy haired fella on the line. He still looks about 23. He still moves as quickly as he did at 20.
“That was when I first encountered him. The 2013 League final, Dublin against Tyrone.
“Positioned within a zonal marking system, McCaffrey came running at me.
“I’ve got this,” I thought. Then came this sound. Whizz, followed by this flash of blue, followed by a Dublin point. A few minutes later they were level. Next they were ahead. They have pretty much stayed ahead of the rest of the country ever since. McCaffrey is a big reason for that.”
Cavanagh also highlighted what makes McCaffrey one of the most gifted players of his generation.
“What he has is speed, the kind of speed you can’t live with. Plus he has timing, Serge Blanco/Brian O’Driscoll timing - that sporting intelligence of sensing where the space is about to appear and when you should arrive into it,” added Cavanagh.
“No Gaelic footballer is as fast or as smart at getting this part of the game right.
"We saw it again yesterday. When Mayo closed in for an equaliser, he appeared from nowhere to produce a tackle, which - replays showed - should have been given as a wide.
"Instead a 45 was incorrectly given which Colm Reape scored. Great players do that. When the clutch moments come, they find a way to get the ball and make an impact.
"He has it all. Speed, strength, intelligence, unselfishness, the ability to have craic, the humility to sit on the bench for 53 minutes - I’m not sure I could have handled being a sub at that stage of my career after being crowned player of the year and winning All-Irelands.”
After witnessing Dublin’s performance on Sunday, Cavanagh feels they are in a strong position to retain the Sam Maguire Cup.
“Two years ago, when he and Stephen Cluxton had retired, I wrote off Dublin and considered them finished as a force,” said Cavanagh.
“Then Cluxton and McCaffrey - as well as Paul Mannion - came back and my opinion changed.
“They are still the team to beat. They have another couple of gears left in them in this year's Championship. For me it is them, Kerry, Donegal, Armagh, Galway, Mayo in that order.
But I am not ruling Derry out of reappearing into the mix and causing a major upset.”
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