BERNARD Brogan says he still misses the sense of camaraderie and purpose of the Dublin set-up.
Brogan, speaking on Bobby Kerr’s ‘Life and Leadership’ podcast on Newstalk, also gave some fresh insights into the Jim Gavin era.
These included a team bonding trip to Lambay Island the week before the five-in-a-row encounter with Kerry back in 2019, where the players opened up to each other.
And Brogan went on to say that in his earlier days with Dublin Pat Gilroy gave him the “kick in the ass” he needed to become more of a team player.
The seven-time All-Ireland winner - the co-owner of ‘Pep Talk’ with his cousin James - went on to reveal that he needs a shoulder replacement and is putting it off until his young family grows older.
Brogan, who retired from inter-county football at the end of the 2019 season, said: “It’s (county football) 30 or 40 hours of your week.
“Every decision you are thinking about it. You are together nearly every day or every second day.
“Some of my best pals have come through it - very close to a lot of the guys.
“That’s the buzz, the hole it leaves inside - (it’s) very hard to fill.
“I was busy with work and family home life, but you still miss that camaraderie, that purpose, that we are going after something - and that energy behind it.”
Speaking about Gavin, Brogan said: “I remember Jim Gavin actually said to me when I handed in the badge, as they say - when I retired.
“He thanked me for my effort, all the time.
“But the biggest piece, when he came in, in 2013, there were some senior players had been around the block and won an All-Ireland and he was expecting, as happened in his time, ‘95, ‘96, a bit of a rally against management.
“He experienced that the team just really bought into it. We had open arms. We were soaking it up. We wanted to be better because we wanted success
“He said that was the biggest thing that stood for him in our time.
“That really stood to me about, wow, we were only young guys, delighted to be there because the only thing we ever wanted to do was play for Dublin, but you do have to show up. You do need to be a team player.
“You need to know there are facilitators and leaders there to try and put a framework and manners around it for you to perform and buy into it.”
Speaking about the week before the five-in-a-row final draw with Kerry in 2019, Brogan said: “The last piece of the work we did with Dublin, Jim brought us to Lambay island. We didn’t kick a football
“A fantastic place. All we did was three sessions around connection, getting to know each other better.
“Some old guys. Some new guys. People talking about challenges. They had lost relatives.
“People who didn’t have parents, who struggled with different challenges, and all it was to do was just to create that bond.
“And why do you do that? You invest in culture. For us in sport it’s about the last five minutes that I will go through the wall for you.
“You are after slipping. I am going to make up to your man. I am going to get a block or I am going to get that ball to you - if you are a striker - to take that shot for us to win.”
Brogan continued: “I remember even Jim Gavin would never shirk a hard conversation.
“When he’s got 36 lads and he can only pick 15 guys for every match, he had a fantastic amount of hard conversations.
“Me and Eoghan O’Gara in our later days would always be tic tacing about it. ‘Will we be in the team or not?’
“Both of us and loads of others gave Jim loads of feedback and in fairness he never closed the door.
“He always took it up but he always gave honest and good feedback."
Speaking about Gilroy, who left him out of the team for a spell, Brogan said: “A guy who really tested me and got the best out of me. That’s what I needed.
“I needed someone to kick me in the ass and I was at a stage when I was playing well.
“He put pressure on me to do more, to be a real team player, to bring people into the game, to work harder, to come back, to track, all these different things that maybe I wasn’t doing.
“I just thought I just had to stand up near the goal and kick it over the bar but the game needed more than that.”
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