Bernard Brogan has hailed the contribution of Ciarán Kilkenny following Dublin's All-Ireland SFC final replay success.
Ciarán along with Brian Fenton and Mayo's Lee Keegan are the three contenders for this year's Footballer of the Year, a season in which the Castleknock clubman had to show great versatility.
“He’s so comfortable on the ball he brings so much calm to the team. He does a phenomenal job,” says Bernard.
“He’s one of our heroes and leaders and has been for a time.
“We usually come up against hybrid defences…mass defences. You have to be able to control the ball, control the play and control the tempo and it’s not an easy thing to do in the middle of the pitch.
“He’s got the understanding to be able to control the game. There’s not many people able to do that.
“A lot of people get the ball and they panic. He brought that sense of calmness to the team."