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Published 16:43 20 Dec 2017 GMT
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The man has been a model of ferocious consistency and relentless hunger. His focus always seems to be unwavering from the next ball and his ability to leave defenders trailing in his frightening wake never weaned from January with the Dublin under-21 footballers to December with the Cuala hurlers.
A team player, a level head, but the most impressive thing about the forward is that, even with all the success he's had, he's still the same Con. If any other 21-year-old in the country enjoyed similar level of success, we suspect they wouldn't be as modest as this man.
O'Callaghan's 2017 finishes with some extraordinary feats:
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/937342705553891329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportsjoe.ie%2Fgaa%2Fhell-con-ocallaghan-not-nominated-sportsperson-year-143825
The man was a leader in every single one of these team triumphs, as reflected by his All-Star and Young Footballer of the Year award, and the fact that he's been widely acclaimed as the best club hurler in Ireland so far this year.
He won every prize available to him, with the only exception being the Footballer of the Year award, and a farcical lack of a nomination for the RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year award - but that's a matter for another day.
Similarly, in 2006, the only prize that evaded Kilkenny hurler James 'Cha' Fitzpatrick was the Hurler of the Year award. The Ballyhale Shamrocks man, as pointed out by his teammate Richie Hogan, was successful in every competition he entered from under-21 club hurling, to pre-season inter-county competitions to senior inter-county championship.
https://twitter.com/richiehogan8/status/942313632544772096
Fitzpatrick cut his inter-county career short in 2011, at the age of 26. He had endured a frustrating year, and was unable to secure a consistent starting berth i lár na páirce, where he had been playing for the previous five years. Michael Rice had arrived on the scene and he and Michael Fennelly formed a formidable midfield partnership.
He admitted himself to have felt that even outstanding performances in training wouldn't have swayed Brian Cody's mind on him.
So, the boy wonder retired early, but he does have some fond memories, particularly of that 2006 year.
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