‘It’s something I wish never happens again’ – Seán MacMahon aims to bounce back after concussion issue

MacMahon, speaking at the recent launch of Dublin's alternate jersey, took a knock to the head as he was carrying the ball against Castleknock.

"I don't remember much but what I do remember is the ref coming over and kind of saying, 'if it's a head injury he needs to go off'," he said.

Raheny reached the county semi-finals last year, losing on penalties to Kilmacud Crokes, but failed to build on that promise when eliminated at the group stages.

After leaving the field, MacMahon was admitted to hospital, while Raheny lost the match in his absence.

"I was in there, in A&E, and I remember getting told we lost and I was like, 'What did we lose?' It was just crazy. But thankfully it's all fine now."

The concussion led to a break from sporting activity.

"I'm starting to do runs and stuff again and I'm feeling all right so, yeah, I think I'm definitely on the mend and will be back running and whatever. I'm sure I'll be doing some mad crazy runs soon!"

MacMahon started all of Dublin's league and championship matches in 2024 except the meetings with Louth and Cavan, nailing down a regular starting spot for the first time.

"I think I got a few lucky breaks in terms of maybe lads that this year got injured and I capitalised on that. And when you get a chance to impress you kind of put the best foot forward. And hopefully I've made some headway. I think I did this year.

"I think now it's a clean slate again though next year. There is no complacency there in terms of expecting to start, I am a long way from being one of those, so it's definitely a clean slate I feel again this year and start from scratch and impress again."

He has made the conversion from attack to defence, recalling its origins in a minor club match with Raheny.

"They had some lump of a full forward who was this huge fella. He was causing murder, he wasn't a good footballer, he was just throwing his weight around. Anyway, I was slightly bigger than people on my team at the time so he [minor manager] said, 'Seán, will you go back on him and just kind of keep him in check or whatever'.

"Anyway, I did a job on him. The next day there was another big fella so I ended up cementing the full-back position. So I kind of fell into full-back. Not something you'd typically do. Up through underage I would have been full-forward, in and around there, and midfield as a kid. So corner-back, full-back, were not my traditional positions."

Like many others he has needed patience for his chance to arrive with Dublin. His first senior start came in the 2018 O'Byrne Cup – a year after winning an All-Ireland medal at U-21. He didn't have his first championship appearance until four years later.

The scrapping of the pre-season competitions isn't a hindrance to players looking to stake a claim, in his opinion.

"While the competitions are fantastic and great, and give you a great chance to get a look at lads, I think there will still be every opportunity, and given that there will be particular attention paid to the club championship ... I think there is still a chance there for people to impress and just knowing that management will turn up at everything. So you will be seen. You don't have to be at the top division, they will have people at every game."

He has seen first-hand how hot competition is for places.

"It's definitely hard to get into a National League team with a Dublin team. It's hard to get into any Dublin team. But I think definitely, as I said earlier on, they're looking at most teams. I've witnessed it first-hand. They could be out at a friend's intermediate game. They are there and keeping an eye and getting reports back if they are not there themselves."

Dublin's lead-in to their All-Ireland quarter-final loss to Galway was disrupted by a sickness bug in the camp. But MacMahon, who wasn't affected himself, says it had no bearing on the team's performance.

"There was a bug and it was reminiscent of Covid times in terms of we didn't stay . . . we came togged and we didn't use the dressing rooms. Our meeting [on the Thursday before the game] was conducted over Zoom that night type of thing, so it threw you out of your normal rhythm but in no way, shape or form was it a factor in why we performed so poorly in that game, particularly in the second half.

"We were just beaten by a better team on the day and the wheels fell off the wagon. We just weren't consistent in our performance. The first half was kind of standard enough, going all right, and then in the second half it was just kind of a systems malfunction. I don't think a bug can do that to you unfortunately!"

After the loss he took a holiday along with a few of the team.

"We went off just to Spain, just to kind of get away from it. It wasn't even to digest it, it was just to not think about it at all, to be honest. Just kind of took it easy with this additional time that you have all of a sudden.

"Like, there were some days you'd wake up on, say, the Tuesday after the game and you'd expect to go to training but it's not the case any more.

"So it was certainly a bit of a shock to the system in the sense that we hadn't been there in the last 10 years. And like, there's no expectation either [that you're going to win], it's knock-out football and you have to perform or you're gone. It wasn't a case that we were thinking, 'Ah we'll get through'. It definitely wasn't. But just in comparison to the previous 10 years it definitely was an earlier exit and a bit of a shock in that sense."

He is supportive of the rule changes being brought to Special Congress for approval at the end of the month.

"It's definitely going to be a different game but I think it's one that, you know, if it's a better spectacle to watch then it's probably a better spectacle to play as well. I think it's something we're going to welcome and embrace, and it's a challenge and an opportunity to gain an edge.

"You know, the teams who can innovate around these rules the quickest will probably do better than others. If you're stubborn and say you don't want this, you're probably going to be left behind. I think Jim Gavin and the review committee have put in serious work and time and it's not something they've done lightly. Listen, it's for the betterment of the game so I think we'll welcome it with open arms and just embrace the challenge."

He cites the three-v-three feature as one of his favourite elements.

"You'll definitely get more space. It'll be tougher as a defender probably but you just have to up your game there. But again, tougher for me, but that'll mean it's easier for our forwards and I think we have savage firepower in that end of the pitch. So while you might look like you're getting destroyed or roasted some days, you'll hope that your forwards are also doing the roasting as well, and scoring more. It's a team game so you take your ego out of it and just try to perform, basically."