By John Harrington

You naïvely suggest to Declan Feeney that he won’t be able to enjoy himself at Saturday’s Dublin SHC Final until and unless the final whistle crowns Na Fianna champions, and he quickly sets you straight.

“You have to enjoy it,” he says. “You can't dream about these things and get there and then not enjoy it.”

Feeney has always dreamed big when it comes to Na Fianna hurling, so he certainly deserves to enjoy their first ever appearance in a Dublin Senior Hurling Final regardless of what happens on the day.

He’s the sort who likes to spread around any credit that’s going, but there’s no disputing the fact that he’s played a huge role in turning the Glasnevin club into a real force in Dublin hurling.

He coached the majority of the current panel at all age-grades, including Dublin county minor and U-21 winning campaigns, and guided them at senior level too until he was succeeded in the position by current manager Niall Ó Ceallacháin.

It’s a mark of his passion for both his club and the sport that he’s now thrown himself into the role of managing the club’s U-12 hurlers with typical brio.

For Feeney, Saturday’s County Final against Kilmacud will be a celebration of family and the sport that binds them. He’ll sit in the stand with his father Pat, a founding member of Na Fianna, and cheer on his son, Peter, who is expected to start at midfield.

A lot to look forward to so, and until the game comes around he’s making a point of enjoying every minute of the build-up.

“There's a great buzz in the club,” Feeney told GAA.ie. “It's massive for the community. Even watching the bunting going up was brilliant. It's our first ever County Hurling Final, so it's a huge occasion.

“Everywhere you go around the shops people are asking you are you going to the match on Saturday.

“We've been to the Football Final, Ladies Football Final, and Camogie Final, so this is the last of the four.

“So, for the likes of the founding members of the club, it's a huge occasion, and we don't have too many of them left alive.

“We're blessed that this group has come through and gotten to a Final. They’re a very tight unit. They've all come up from underage. All the parents know each other. That's the beauty of the whole thing.

“You talk about the parish and country clubs, we have our own parish in Glasnevin and they'll all be out to support them on Saturday night.”

To appreciate how far hurling in Na Fianna has come, it’s worth remembering that at the turn of the millennium it was ailing badly.

The club hadn’t fielded a minor hurling team since 1985, and the senior team was still counting heavily on the graduates of their 1981 county minor winning team.

The darkest hour is just before dawn though, and behind the scenes the foundations were being put in place for a brighter future.

Club members like Tom Ryan and Jim Heffernan played a key role in rejuvenating the sport in the club by establishing a hurling nursery from scratch. From that acorn, a mighty oak has sprouted.

"That's where all this comes from,” says Feeney. “The nursery in 1990 was massive. We had no minor team from '85 to 2000.

“That first nursery crew were the first team we fielded in the 2000 minor championship. It has taken off gradually since then, but the numbers have been huge and still are.”

Na Fianna’s big breakthrough came in 2012 when they won the Dublin minor Championship. Then a hugely talented generation of players emerged that won four Dublin Minor Championships in a row from 2014 to 2017 and three Dublin U-21 Championships in a row from 2016 to 2018.

By then there were already great expectations that Na Fianna were poised to inherit Cuala’s mantle as the dominant force of Dublin club hurling, but it was never going to happen overnight.

In 2018, 26 of their senior panel of 30 players were aged 22 or younger, so time and patience was always going to be needed before they could really begin to fulfil their potential.

“They had to grow and mature,” says Feeney. “That's the nature of it with all young fellas. As much and all as they think that at U-19 that they're impregnable and they can't be touched, fellas that are 30 years of age are just bigger and stronger no matter how much strength and conditioning they've done.

“We're lucky that our age-profile now is out around 25. And we have three that are in the thirties, which we didn't have previously with this particular group.

“It just takes time. It's a natural progression that they should improve. Last year they made the semi-final, this year they've made the final. So, it's a stepping stone to improve each year. They're coming with each year. Hopefully it's this year.”

There’s no doubt either that two-time All-Star Liam Rushe’s decision to transfer to Na Fianna from his home club of St. Pat’s, Palmerstown has been a significant factor in the Glasnevin club reaching their first ever County Final.

He’s excelled in the centre-back role, and the maturity and leadership he brings has been priceless for what is still a very young panel of players.

“He's been a huge addition,” says Feeney. "I don't know what the best way to describe it is, but he just has a presence around the squad. When you hear the other fellas talk about him, they just have huge respect.

“He's brought all the experience from his ten years of inter-county experience to a team that has had very little of it. They all look up to him.

“He talks quietly to them. He's not a big shouter. He's always available to talk to them all and he's fitted in lovely into the team. He's been a huge addition.

“It can't have been easy for him to have left St. Pat's, he's been there all his life.

“He kind of reminds me of Mick Galvin when he left Plunketts and came to Na Fianna for the football in '97 or '98. He was huge for our football team back then and I know Liam Rushe is huge for this hurling team.”

Pitted against Na Fianna is a highly experienced Kilmacud Crokes team that has played four county finals in the last five years including a replay.

They didn’t win any of those matches, so the Stillorgan club will be highly motivated to finally get over the line on Saturday.

Feeney is well aware of the stiff challenge they’ll pose, but he’s still highly confident Na Fianna can create some history.

“We've been hurling well. We're playing well. We seem to be tight at the back but getting the scores up front. We have maybe what we didn't have before, workers all over the pitch that are only interested in working for the team. It looks like it's a really unified team.

“Can we go and win it? I'll tell you straight away, there won't be much in it. I can't see either team running away with this.

“You'd be fearful of stage-fright in a first final appearance, but I don't think these fellas will because too many of them have been on a big stage before and played well for Dublin. Or they've performed in Minor and U-21 County Finals.

“So, for years they’ve performed and my hope would be that they go out and perform again and show what they can do. If that means we can win, then brilliant.

“If we don't, we don't, there's nothing anyone can do about that. I just think that if they can perform and show what they can do, they're in with a great shout and it's going to come down to a puck of a ball and, because it's November, probably a mistake somewhere for either team could decide the game.

“The belief is there, there's no doubt the belief is there, and the whole club are behind them.”

And if they could win their first ever Dublin Senior Championship, what would that feel like for a man who has dedicated so much of his life to Na Fianna Hurling?

“If we win it, it would be a dream come through for me,” says Feeney. “It would be just huge satisfaction. I could sit back and say all the work was more than worth it.”