Dylan McHugh’s latest man of the match performance against Donegal in the All-Ireland may not only have taken him another major step towards a first All Star award, but also pushed the Galway wing-back further among the contenders for the Footballer of the Year award for 2024.
But despite the euphoria of the victory that Sunday evening and a late return home to Corofin, McHugh was still in bright and early for work the following morning at the factory where he works in Tuam.
McHugh, now 27 years old and with three All-Ireland club medals in his possession, takes the demands of intercounty football in his stride, just grateful that he was given the chance four years ago when he thought the opportunity had passed him, despite playing underage for Galway.
The fact that he couldn’t nail down a starting place in Corofin’s star-studded line-up at the time made a county call-up even less likely.
“I just saw something in him that I liked,” said Galway manager Pádraic Joyce. “He’s a brilliant, brilliant fella who has got himself into unbelievable shape.”
McHugh was watching younger players getting called into the Galway squad and had resigned himself to playing for Corofin when the call came out of the blue from Joyce.
“I remember thinking at 23, I was too old to ever play for Galway, which is kind of funny looking back now, but that was just the way it was. It was kind of like if a player was leaving, they’d bring in a 20-year-old or a 21-year-old or something like that. So, yeah, probably a later stage than most to start coming in.
“I was obviously delighted when Pádraic called me, but I just had the feeling that at 23 that my time for a call had kinda gone. And, I kinda just had made up that I’d be playing with Corofin for the foreseeable. I wasn’t reluctant at all once Pádraic rang, I was delighted to go in and I’ve always enjoyed being in here. It’s an unbelievable group of lads. You wouldn’t come across a nicer group around and obviously the management make it so enjoyable. It’s been a great couple of years.”
McHugh is steeped in Corofin GAA. His father Jimmy is the club secretary, his uncles Tom and Pat McHugh also played for them. On his mother’s side, his grand-uncle James Collins was the club chairman when they won the 1998 All-Ireland club title before going on to dominate the game in Galway ever since.
McHugh, one of the many former St Jarlath’s College students in the Galway squad, won a Connacht minor medal in 2015, added an under-21 provincial medal two years later with a side beaten by Dublin in the All-Ireland final.
“I would have only been 19 playing on that under-21 team, and then the following year the way things changed with grades, I didn’t get to play again. As the years went on I would have been looking at probably 10 of that under-21 team going on and playing for Galway, and I was there not playing for my own club.
“I probably just had to be patient then to bide my time to try to get into the Corofin team. Obviously, we had a very strong half-back line where I was trying to get in, and probably two of the three were playing with Galway and probably had another lad that probably could have been playing for Galway.”
The breakthrough with Galway triggered a massive rise in his performance levels and he is one of just five players to have played all 15 championship games that took Galway to the All-Ireland final two years ago and again this season.
His dedication was evident last year when he opted not to go on the Galway team holiday abroad, staying at home instead to play for Corofin in the Connacht club championship.
“The way the All-Ireland holiday was, we were leaving the Monday, the following day, after the county final. So, I kinda just said to myself and herself that if we lost the county final, we’ll go, and if we win the county final, we’ll stay.
“I just thought being part of the Corofin group that it probably wasn’t the right thing for me to go, when we were playing two weeks again against the Mayo county champions. So, I kinda just had that decision made before the club championship had started, and, I suppose it was a good complaint to miss.”
No surprise then that McHugh was in for work as usual at the Valeo plant in Tuam on the morning after they defeated Donegal. Football is important, but so are other things.,
“Look, it’s not the be-all and end-all, but, like, I put so much time into it so you want to be as successful as you can. You want to perform as well as you can to probably justify the time you’re putting in and the sacrifice you put in over the years. So, I take it seriously to an extent, but, look, it’s not the end of the world either.”
