Heslin: 'It still feels like a bit of a dream'
John Heslin had no hesitation in returning to the Westmeath panel when asked by manager Mark McHugh, admitting he had absolute faith that the team was going to win a Leinster SFC title.
The St Loman's forward retired from inter-county duty in January 2025 having made his debut for the Lake County back in 2011.
However rumours swirled in the run-up to the decider against Dublin that Heslin had been coaxed back in to train, and those rumours proved to be correct, with the 33-year-old included in the matchday panel.
The fairytale ending arrived when Heslin came off the bench in the 61st minute, chipping in with three points as Westmeath peeled away from the Dubs in extra-time to win by 2-28 to 0-26. It's their first provincial success since 2004 and just their second overall.
"It was unreal," Heslin told RTÉ's Inside Sport as the celebrations continued.
"People ask me did I hear the cheer when I came on? I suppose it's a bit surreal. I probably didn't get to enjoy the cheer as much as other people did, because (it's) just the way the mind works, you're straight into focus on what the management have given you, the task at hand, but my God, the celebrations and what it meant to the people of Westmeath has been unreal.
"We're currently in Multyfarnham here, the home village of the captain Ronan Wallace. Just to see him be able to bring the cup back into his village and all the people that turned out. It's raining. People are standing in the rain, looking just to see Ronan come back in and the team. It's amazing."
Expanding on his own emotions after the memorable triumph, Heslin said: "It probably hasn't sunk in for me in that sense. It kind of nearly feels like it's still a bit of a dream.
"I spoke to my wife this morning about it and I just feel so lucky and privileged to have been asked back in.
"The question when I was asked to me if I was to go back in, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to go back in because I knew the quality that was there."
Heslin said he could see there was a Leinster success in Westmeath's talented panel, led so astutely by McHugh.
"The reason, being open and honest, was I felt that they were going to win a Leinster title," he admitted.
"Anyone that gets asked back into a panel where they have a chance of winning a Leinster title, sure you'd be mad not to go back in, you know?
"The doubt never entered my mind. When I was going to the training (for the first time after being invited back into the fold)... I was worried maybe that I mightn't get to the pitch of it in that training session. But that training went well for me. I did a couple of things that I was like, 'OK, I am able, I'm still able to do this'.
"I'm just very, very lucky that the way club football is these days, that it's played at such a high level that I was still in reasonably fit condition to be able to go back in and mix it with the lads."
There was also a nagging memory that influenced Heslin's thinking; an omission 16 years ago that made him even more determined not to pass up the opportunity to achieve glory.
"Mark asked me would I come back in for the All-Ireland series. I told him a story," Heslin added.
"I was called up when I was 17. I got my first call-up at Westmeath in 2010. There were rumours that I was going to be called up for the Leinster semi-final. I didn't (get a call). I got a call-up that night after they lost by a point.
"I was a bit devastated that I didn't get called up for that game. I thought I might have been able to contribute something, even if it was just to give a bit of a bounce.
"I relayed that story to Mark when he asked me would I come back into the All-Ireland series. I just said, 'don't rule me out for the Leinster Championship, let's just see how training goes'.
"That's how it went. He took that on board and he included me in the 26. I felt even if I didn't feature yesterday, I thought I might have just given a bit of a bounce to the young lads. And they were brilliant.
"I'm just delighted to be to be part of that."
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