I want to play as much as I can..it’s a privilege to pull on a blue jersey
BIT-PART ROLE FRUSTRATING FOR COSTELLO
CORMAC COSTELLO admits the stop-start nature of his Dublin career has been hard to swallow at times.
Given that he’s part of a panel that arguably has more attacking talent than that of any in the history of the game, the Whitehall Colmcille’s man is certainly grateful just to be in the reckoning.
But 18 appearances in the 39 Championship games that Dublin have played since he made his debut back in 2013 is a meagre return for a man of his talents, all the more so when you consider that he’s made just two starts.
The first of those was against Donegal in 2014, when Dublin last suffered a Championship defeat, the other in a dead rubber against Roscommon this year (inset) when he slotted 0-9.
“Ask any footballer, they want to be playing and on the pitch as much as they possibly can,” he concedes.
“There’s different roles for different guys on the team.
“Some lads play more than others.
Some lads don’t get the chance at all. It’s just a privilege to put on that jersey and represent Dublin in some way and influence the team, just a privilege to get more time this year.”
Of course, Costello’s Dublin career would certainly have much more to it by now were it not for injury.
His most famous cameo came in the 2016 Allireland final replay when he kicked three crucial points after coming on in the last quarter to drive Dublin to a one-point win.
His claims for a starting place in 2017 looked set to rocket on the back of it but after featuring in the opening League game against Cavan, he didn’t see action again until late on in the Allireland final, more than seven months later, as he suffered a series of hamstring injuries.
“2017 was a frustrating year, I pulled my hamstring three times. It was frustrating but there’s a great medical set-up there, we get great support from the backroom team and they’ve all got me back on the pitch so it’s a credit to them really,” he said.
“I was out for eight weeks at one stage with a torn hamstring. So it was a good bulk of time, you’d miss a whole League campaign or a good bulk of training throughout the summer which is obviously frustrating.
“But like I said, I was lucky enough to get back on the pitch in the end of 2017. It was kind of a bitter-sweet moment.”
Along with the likes of his contemporaries Ciaran Kilkenny and Eric Lowndes, Costello had a standout underage hurling career too and while he doesn’t rule out playing small ball for the county, he admits it’s a long shot.
He added: “I’ll never say no, I’ll never rule it out but at the moment I’m enjoying my football, I’m enjoying playing football and representing my county.
“So for the moment I think I’ll kind of stick with the football. But you never know, I’m not as good as I used to be at hurling anyway, they mightn’t want me!”