Dean Rock admits the thought of stepping away from consideration for Dublin did cross his mind briefly early on in his career amid injuries and non-selection before his fortunes turned decisively towards a golden era that saw him win eight All-Ireland medals.
The 33-year-old called time on his inter-county career earlier this week, bringing the curtain down on an ultra-successful trajectory that saw him play a pivotal part in many of Dublin's successes over the past decade-and-a-half.
But it wasn't always so easy for Rock as he recalled on RTÉ's Sunday Sport whilst at Croke Park.
"Everyone has their own unique story but certainly mine was quite challenging," he said.
"I was on the bench here when Dublin lost by 17 points to Kerry in 2009 as a 19-year-old.
"I was on the bench that day and I didn't feature in a championship game again until 2013, so it was a long journey.
"I suppose I probably, under Pat Gilroy, didn't fit into his style of play, and I found that quite difficult to break in there and just had to show a lot of perseverance and resilience to come back and eventually get back in there in 2013 when Jim [Gavin] came in really."
The successive setbacks between 2009 and his first All-Ireland medal four years later did test Rock's resolve.
"It certainly would have crossed your mind," he said of potentially walking awya from the Dublin setup.
"I would have been dropped off the panel in 2010 and then tore my hamstring off the bone in 2011, so I was gone for nine months with that and then in 2012 I managed to come back and had a really good, strong campaign with the DCU Sigerson team and Pat actually asked me up onto the senior panel then," he said.
"I got a few league games but that summer then he dropped me off the panel again. I was sitting down to watch the Champions League final, Bayern Munich and Chelsea, and a call came in and that was really, really hard to take because I'd come back from the hamstring off the bone - [the call to say] I wouldn't be in the squad."
He can talk as well as he could play! @Deanrock14 was a great guest on Sunday Sport today reflecting on his fantastic career that saw him win 8 All-Irelands as top scorer EVER …but not before he had to overcome a few big setbacks. Not surprisingly, an excellent analyst! pic.twitter.com/TJr1ErWTI1
— Des Cahill (@sportsdes) January 21, 2024
But county and provincial glory with his club Ballymun Kickhams provided rocket fuel for his inter-county prospects.
"I'd been performing really well with the club and county so you're thinking, 'am I ever going to making it?' But thankfully I went back that year, won the club championship with Ballymun Kickhams for the first time since 1985 and that kind of catapulted me to having a really good campaign in the Leinster Club Championship and coming here for an All-Ireland club final.
"Then Jim got the job and it kind of snowballed ever since then."
