Fitzsimons not burdened by history or expectations

YOU KNOW this really is a whole new generation of Dublin footballers when they talk about chilling out this week by playing their Xboxes, or maybe even a round of golf with their mates, in Dalkey.

But if there was one recurring note coming out of the Dublin camp in the build-up to Sunday’s showdown with Kerry it was their utter disconnection from Dublin’s last All-Ireland final experience, in 1995, and few epitomise that more than Michael Fitzsimons.

It mightn’t necessarily be a good thing, but it’s probably better than being weighed down by history, or indeed any great expectation. Fitzsimons was only seven years old when Dublin beat Tyrone in 1995, and wasn’t even thought off when they last played Kerry at this stage, in 1985.

In fact he grew up in Leixlip, in Kildare, playing mostly soccer, and immune from even the passing hype of Dublin football, until his family moved back to Dublin, and he eventually joined up with Cuala, in Dalkey – still one of Dublin’s least traditional GAA areas.

Although he’s surrounded by plenty of so-called south side representation in the Dublin team – namely Kilmacud Crokes, Ballyboden St Enda’s, and Templeogue Synge Street – Fitzsimons is the only Cuala representative, and thus flies the flag for the affluent waterside strip from Blackrock to Dún Laoghaire and into Shankill.

Yet on that note, playing in an All-Ireland final has certainly not been lost on him: as he’s been reminded plenty of times in the last few weeks, he’s the first Cuala player to start an All-Ireland for Dublin since the great 1983 All-Ireland-winning standout Mick Holden – who died suddenly, almost exactly four years ago.

There’s an almost uncanny sense of coincidence about it too, not just as corner backs, but in the way Fitzsimons has adopted a tenacious, whole-hearted style of defending that Holden would unquestionably have approved of.

Despite his age and relative inexperience Fitzsimons has found himself playing a key role in the Dublin defence, in perfect sync with Rory O’Carroll and Cian O’Sullivan.

It’s only his second championship summer, and he endured the gauntlet of fire on more than once occasion last summer, particularly in the five-goal onslaught from Meath in the Leinster semi-final.

A lot of managers would have lost the faith, even at that early stage, but Pat Gilroy stood by his men, provided, of course, they learnt the lessons from it.

“Well a few of us have been in and out since then,” says Fitzsimons, “if you include Philly McMahon, Paul Conlon, and now Cian O’Sullivan. But it is a young enough full-back line, and I think it did give us a bit of confidence and reassurance that we didn’t all get dropped after that Meath game, that Pat stuck with us.

“I think what he wanted most was natural players, who play corner back rather than converting other players into corner backs. The Meath game last year, a lot of things went wrong, all over the place. So it wasn’t all the full- back line’s fault.”

Either way, it’s been a fairly steep learning curve for Fitzsimons – with the near suffocating semi-final against Donegal presenting him with a whole new challenge, the difference there being the near hopelessness of any man-marking.

He doesn’t know or really worry too much about who he’ll be picking up on Sunday, except that he’ll be wearing green and gold, and that’s more than enough to present the entire Dublin defence with perhaps their biggest date this summer.

“At least they are expected to get a lot of scores, so there is no pressure on me,” he says, not entirely joking. “But of course their full-forward line is unbelievable, probably the best in the country. But that’s what you want. You want to mark the best, to be the best.

“That’s why it’s all about concentration. I think playing in the full- back line used to be worse. David Henry would be telling me tales of woe playing in the full-back line, when it wasn’t as defensive.

“At the start, to play at this level, was a big shock to the system, especially last year. It’s only this year I’ve really started developing my game a little bit more.

“I obviously learned little bits from my mistakes, but this year I’ve tried to take a greater look at what I’ve been doing right or wrong. I’m still doing a lot wrong but a good bit right, and I just want to try and keep improving on it.

“I didn’t really find the pace too bad. I thought strength-wise, because I was light, that was going to be the toughest thing but at corner back strength hasn’t been a huge problem. It’s more about quick-thinking, really.

“And I’ve definitely learned how to communicate more. When I started out with my club I just wanted to mark my man and I wouldn’t care about space. It was all about if my man didn’t score, I was happy.

“I had to look at the bigger picture with the Dublin team, because it’s not all about you. You can get very selfish and just trying to keep your man scoreless and just letting him give out easy ball to someone else, so I’ve definitely learned how to play in the full-back line as part of a unit.”

If Fitzsimons really is the new breed of Dublin footballer, with no baggage whatsoever from the past (besides perhaps from his grandfather, who played hurling with Limerick) then there’s nothing about the past that should haunt, including the old curse of having to lose an All-Ireland before you win one.

“You can never tell. I just want to take every chance I get. I don’t want to wait another year because it might not happen. Hopefully we can perform. All we want to do is perform on the day because if you can play to your best, you’d be happy with that.

“If you know it’s not good enough, you come back next year but it’s just about performing on the day. That’s about it.”

Michael Fitzsimons

Position: Left-corner back.

Age: 23.

Club: Cuala.

Occupation: Physiotherapist.

SFC debut: 2010, v Wexford.

Honours: 1 Leinster title; 1 Dublin minor football championship 2006,

1 Junior All-Ireland 2008, Dublin Under-21 Football and Hurling Championships 2009.