Four games that defined career of Mullins

1974: All-Ireland final Dublin 0-14 Galway 1-6

He was fouled for a point, set up his clubmate Jimmy Keaveney for another, and the second of his two points closed the scoring and also teased one of the great commentary punchlines from Micheal O’Hehir.

‘The Jacks are back,’ O’Hehir greeted Mullins’ point, ‘and the Galway backs are truly jacked.’

1976: All-Ireland final Dublin 3-8 Kerry 0-10

He was, quite literally, head and shoulders above the rest, ruling the roost in the middle of the field, while his loping trademark runs bore holes in Kerry’s rearguard.

He capped a thundering display with a goal in the final quarter, dropping the ball onto his right foot and steering it into the far corner of the Kerry net. ‘They were foolish to have underestimated us,’ he suggested afterwards.

1977: All-Ireland semi-final Dublin 3-12 Kerry 1-13

He caught one of the great breaks after he was booked twice but the referee erred and he somehow stayed on the field.

It was also his first championship match against Kerry’s rookie midfielder Jack O’Shea, but the Caherciveen man suffered so much in Mullins’ company that he was switched out of midfield.

1983: All-Ireland semi-final replay Dublin 4-15 Cork 2-10

He nailed the lie that he could never be the same player after coming back from a broken leg. Inside three minutes, he found the net, albeit from the penalty spot, but it was his absolute dominance of midfield that ensured Dublin’s safe passage to the final.

‘Mullins was a huge inspiration to Dublin; the indestructible axis on which the whole team rotated smoothly and with such telling effect,’ gushed Paddy Downey in his Irish Times match report.