During a father and son interview with The Irish Times way back in 2008, the teenager remarked: "It brings its own pressure but I don't want to be known as the son of Barney Rock. In the summer time on the way to Croke Park you see it. We'd be walking towards the stadium and almost everyone, especially older men, come up and stop him just to say 'Howya Barney.' He has earned that recognition so I suppose it is up to me to get mine."

Now 26, Dean Rock has achieved that stated goal. Two Al-Ireland medals is one more than Barney's solitary Celtic Cross, albeit gathered as a member of the 12 apostles from that 1983 All-Ireland victory over Galway.

Not that they are comparing, but victory over Westmeath on Sunday would see him pocket a fourth Leinster medal and see eight in total in the family.

Rock muscles his way into the Dublin attack off a rare ability to point frees. It is not the only reason but it is the main reason.

“I go through my own pattern twice a week away from the group. I would kick over a hundred balls by myself. Just to practice the skill because to be the best you got to put in the hours of training.

“For me, I enjoy getting a bag of 10 or 12 balls and going down to the local field and kicking around. It’s an aspect of my game that I pride myself on because I have a responsibility to the team when we get a free to stick it over the bar. If I am not doing the practice I am not able to do that for the team. I take responsibility for that. I enjoy that, going out and practicing and I enjoy it on game day as well.”

It is a solitary existence that even some great players cannot cope with. But Rock grew up watching his father embrace a similar role.

“I enjoy standing over free kicks and being in that pressure situation.”

Obsessive nature

He enjoys the obsessive nature of it. Jonny Wilkinson was a sporting idol during his teenage years as he also played rugby at secondary school in CUS.

“I would have been the goal kicker as well. I based a lot of my training on [Wilkinson]. You have to be very obsessive about it because in a game that is very tight you have to stick them over the bar.”

The approach to rugby place kicking was from another time. No tee. Just a heel into the sod before belting away.

“Just stuck it in the ground. The lads thought that was a bit strange . . . I haven’t kicked a rugby ball in a long time but same approach, same thing.”

The most significant rugby match he ever played was against St Mary’s College in 2007. Jack McGrath was needed off the bench for the Rathmines rugby school to survive a genuine fright before winning 24-18.

Gaelic football with Ballymun and Dublin saw off all other sports after minor. Before long he was no longer considered the son of Barney. He is the Dublin free taker now. Before training, after training and twice a week on his own in a field with a bag of 10 or 12 balls.

Heart rate

“I get my confidence from knowing I have done it 100, 200 times in the past few weeks. I get it from my practice. I have my own routine. I look back on games, frees that I missed, frees I scored and say, okay, what worked, what didn’t work in that situation.

“The main thing is to keep my heart rate down. I am not running at a hundred miles an hour to the free. The free will be taken when I am good and ready, I suppose.”

Considering that Eoghan O’Gara, Paddy Andrews, Paul Mannion, Cormac Costello and Con O’Callaghan are five alternative attacking options Jim Gavin can call off the bench, Rock’s free-taking value could be passed on to Diarmuid Connolly or Bernard Brogan should his general form dip.

No passengers here.

“Everyone feels the pressure. It has been that way since minor and under-21. It is the norm for me, for every player in the squad. That brings the best out of everybody. It’s a brilliant position to be in.

“I pride myself on my free taking but there are also other aspects that I add to the group that I know myself.

“Last couple of years I have been injury free, which has been massive for me to be able to train, to play games and I am really enjoying my football now. I am 26 now and having the time of my life, playing with a great group of guys, your best friends, a real driven group.”