“He has a gym out his back… that’s as good a score as I’ve ever seen. Ever.”

Conan Doherty

2017, Con O’Callaghan bursts onto the senior scene.

He’s already known nation-wide for club, for county underage teams, for football and hurling, but he’s given the opportunity at the very top in 2017 and he’s loving it.

The year is capped with two remarkable individual goals at the very beginning of Dublin’s two biggest tests. The tone of the semi-final and final is set by O’Callaghan’s brilliance and Dublin go on to clinch the All-Ireland with their Cuala gem the undisputed Young Footballer of the Year.

2018 wasn’t as effortless for O’Callaghan.

He was still obviously a class player and he still won another All-Ireland at the end of it but he just didn’t hit the same heights.

This year though, he’s surpassed them.

O’Callaghan is better, stronger, tougher and he’s ripping through defenders like he’s over the bar for this age group.

Alan Brogan was in studio for the latest GAA Hour and says he isn’t surprised.

“He’s very powerful,” Brogan said.

“I think he has a gym out the back in his house.

“It’s been coming.”

The O’Callaghan discussion starts 49:35 here:

Brogan continued, talking about the fielding ability O’Callaghan showed against Roscommon.

“He’s a strong man. Even though he looks quite small in stature, he’s very well built. He’s strong in the air.

“He’s a ball-winner, that’s his main attribute for me. He can obviously score as well but his ball-winning is fantastic, right from an early age you could see that in him.”

Colm Parkinson, however, explained that he too was a ball-winner but couldn’t win anything in the air like that.

Alan Brogan was one of the best ball-winners in the game too.

“Not over my head though!” Brogan laughed.

“Well, he’d be a lot broader than me or you, Wooly.

“There was this perception that he’s a nice footballer and a nice young lad and stuff and maybe he’s shaved the head to change that perception. But he does look a lot tougher now.

“He’s obviously going hard at the gym and that score he got where he won the high ball out in front and looked like he snapped his cruciate on the way down…”

A catch, a recovery, a run and a point to match any of them.