Fenton suspects Heslin helping Westmeath to prep for Con

Brian Fenton would be "hugely surprised" to see his old college friend John Heslin line up for Westmeath in Sunday's Leinster SFC final against Dublin, but suspects the forward might he helping his county to prepare for a Con O'Callaghan-led Dubs attack.

Rumours have been swirling that Heslin has made a dramatic return to the Westmeath panel ahead of the provincial showdown at Croke Park.

The St Loman's man retired from inter-county duty in January 2025 having made his debut for the Lake County in 2011.

However Fenton, who won 10 Leinster titles with Dublin, does not expect to see him go straight back into the fold.

"When I saw that news yesterday, I text Heslin because I played in college with him in UCD so I have a good bit of craic with him, a good relationship with him," Fenton told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.

"I was like, 'am I to believe the hype here?' He naturally downplayed it. He was like, 'I was just kicking a few balls for the lads'. Truthfully, I'd be very surprised to see him, that would be a huge, huge surprise but I wouldn't write it off.

"Immediately the thing that comes to mind with John Heslin is maybe they brought him in to replicate a Dublin player. Maybe they brought him in because he's big and strong and powerful to replicate a potential Con O'Callaghan or something like that. Just something different.

"Obviously he's a massive leader so he would affect the younger players in the group. I'd love to know where the rumours came from or what was pictured or said or seen.

"Do I see John Heslin taking to the field this weekend? No but it's an exciting (fixture)."

"I think coming to Croke Park is a big, big challenge for them."

As for O'Callaghan, Fenton is hopeful the Cuala star is ready to return to the fray. O'Callaghan came off at half-time during the win against Wicklow last month and did not feature in the Leinster semi-final defeat of Louth 11 days ago.

"I think if Con's fit, he starts, absolutely," said Fenton. "He was out and about warming up before the Louth game. He looked fresh. He was bouncing around, probably codding us all to say that he was going to tog out. But I'd say the two weeks have given him just enough time, I hope, to get back.

"You might see him maybe for 15 or 20 minutes at the end if he's not fully fit. But we have to get him in there and get the lads working off him because we didn't see an awful lot of them in the league either.

"Con is going to be important for the rest of the summer. I'd be getting him in as much as building his style too as we're heading towards the rest of the championship."

The provincial championships have delivered a refreshing number of surprises and twists so far this year. A Westmeath victory on Sunday would be another huge talking point, though Fenton stressed there are unique pressures when playing in a showpiece decider.

"I think coming to Croke Park is a big, big challenge for them. Both their games have been in Tullamore. The crowd is very close and as Dessie Dolan said here on the podcast, it's a great atmosphere.

"You can see the clips where the Westmeath players are turning to the crowd and getting them going and the crowd are reacting. You won't get that in Croke Park this weekend.

"The crowd will be much more spread out. They won't be down on top of you. So you lose that atmosphere and that edge a little bit.

"If they bring a bit of chaos and bring a bit of magic and get maybe key scores at key times, I can see them putting a game to Dublin, but based on looking at two teams on paper objectively, Dublin should win comfortably.

"The parade, the hype, getting tickets sorted, everything around it, the functions on a Sunday night, new clothes, that'll all be very, very new for the Westmeath players and something Mark McHugh will embrace, but also play down because they'll be going there to win, no doubt.

"For Westmeath, you could look at it from their point of view. Yes, they have all the new stuff to deal with being in a provincial final. But also, you could say that their main job this year is done in terms of securing Sam Maguire football and they're in the All-Ireland series and they have nothing to lose here. Could that work in their favour? Absolutely."

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