“Watching my brother in the 2013 Brigid's final made me realize what sport I would play” – Brian Stack

On Sunday there is Watty Graham's Glen. A classic archetype from the All-Ireland club finalist genre. The redemption character.

Having charted a vertical chart, they suffered the deep heartache of an All-Ireland final defeat in difficult and controversial circumstances last January.

They were never All-Ireland champions, but they never looked more like All-Ireland champions. This narrative more or less writes itself.

St. Brigid's is a less obvious read. They are a little bit of everything.

​They are perennial top performers in Roscommon and have not won Connacht for ten years, with five failed attempts since then.

Technically they should be in the same area as Glen last year. Hope instead of expectation and everything else. But having won an All-Ireland once before, albeit 11 years ago, it feels like they carry some pedigree in Sunday.

“I wouldn't say it was important, but it definitely showed me it was possible,” says Brian Stack, her man marker extraordinaire.

“When I was that age I played a few sports and I was clear about what sport I was going to focus on and when you see your own club doing it you definitely can't help but think that that would be possible if I were one day.

“But when you start playing you realize how hard it is and it's not easy. A lot of hard work went into getting it done and getting us this far this year.”

In 2013, St Brigid's made it to Croke Park on St Patrick's Day and for much of the afternoon played the role of unwitting accomplice to Ballymun Kickhams' top performers.

This Ballymun team included James McCarthy, Philly McMahon, Dean Rock and John Small.

They were eight points ahead and trudging up the steps of the Hogan Stand when Brigid's called them back.

“Most players think about it happening or dream about it happening,” Stack confirms. “It’s not like every year I start writing down on a page that I want to come to an All-Ireland club and win it.

“But look, you try to win every game that’s in front of you and that’s what’s gotten us this far so we have the right to think about it now.”

Stack was a key figure in this. Just like he was for Roscommon.

He is an interesting specification of a football player. The lockdown marker.

Defense has recently become more of a collective task. Here too, this is largely a passive activity. A back man's job used to be to hit, tackle and dispossess, but today it's largely about squeezing and guarding rather than fouling.

Last year Stack held Shane Walsh and Ryan O'Donoghue goalless in Connacht. He also did a good job with Con O'Callaghan in Roscommon's group campaign.

“I watch a lot of football outside of my own game,” he says, unlike most modern inter-county players.

“So I would see a lot of players playing. And then when you go into a game and you know you're going to tag someone, you obviously look at some of them.

“But I don’t like having too much because you don’t really get a feel for what it’s going to be like until you’re out there. But yes, a lot of it is looked at from a team perspective and from a personal perspective.

“When I was younger I played full-back a lot, you could say until my first year as a minor, playing full-back for the Roscommon minors.

“It's probably a lot more glamorous on the field,” Stack noted, “but the way the game went, 15 attacks and 15 defenses, and you can actually do a lot of attacking as a fullback.”

“Look at people like Tom O'Sullivan or Seán Kelly, they really have a big influence on the game in the future, so I think I can bring that into my game to progress on the field and the game on those Way to influence a little more.”

Currently, Stack's brother Ronan is the sole survivor of St Brigid's 2013 All-Ireland winning team.

“Before that he played a bit of football at Athlone Town and when I watched the final I kind of knew what sport I would play after him,” Stack says now.

“When I was the first to enter Brigid's senior class, he was there and showed me how it was done. It's great to be able to rely on him for little things around the place, even traveling to games with him.

“And the same thing applies to Roscommon. He was there when I joined at 17. He did a lot for me and showed me the ropes, so he’s definitely a role model.”