John Heslin Reflects on Mayo's Historic Win and Westmeath's Rise

John Heslin watched Mayo lift Sam Maguire and saw more than history being made. He saw a door being kicked open for everyone else.

Mayo’s first All-Ireland SFC title in 75 years has dominated the season’s narrative, but for the Westmeath talisman, it has lit a fire as much as it has warmed the heart. Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1’s Inside Sport alongside Brendan Devenney and Ciarán Whelan, Heslin admitted that Andy Moran’s breakthrough win has sharpened his own appetite to stay in the fight with Westmeath under Mark McHugh.

“It kind of gives every other county that hope,” he said, stressing the word every. For a player who has lived most of his inter-county life in Leinster’s long shadow, that matters. “As a sportsperson you just want to have that hope and that chance. The hunger is still there for sure.”

At 34, Heslin has already stepped away once. His initial inter-county retirement stretched to almost a year and a half before the pull of the maroon jersey dragged him back. Now? There are no plans to walk away again.

“Still a current Westmeath footballer anyway,” he laughed, recalling a recent round of golf with McHugh. “I was golfing with Mark McHugh a couple of weeks ago and he didn’t tell me to retire yet, so current for now.”

Mayo’s triumph will always sit at the top of the 2026 storylines. Yet Westmeath quietly carved out their own slice of history in the same summer. With Heslin back in the fold, they claimed just the second Leinster title in the county’s history, toppling Dublin in a gripping provincial final at Croke Park in May.

For a man who had spent 14 seasons watching Dublin collect Leinster title after Leinster title, the symbolism was powerful. He had previously said publicly that Dublin had won the provincial crown every single year he played inter-county football. To finally be part of the team that broke that run felt like a personal and collective release.

Still, when asked to pick his match of the year, Heslin didn’t go for the obvious choice. He went back a little further, to a day when he wasn’t even togged out.

His standout game came from the stands: Westmeath’s stunning quarter-final win over Meath in Tullamore, a 4-18 to 0-25 shootout that rattled the established order. At that stage, Heslin was still on the outside, watching on as a supporter. When he did eventually rejoin the panel, it almost felt surreal.

He joked that his recall felt like “they were just taking a fan from the crowd,” but that afternoon in Tullamore had already left its mark on him.

“Naturally it’d be easy for me to pick Westmeath and Dublin,” he admitted, acknowledging the weight of that Leinster final. It was only the second time Westmeath had ever lifted the provincial trophy, and he knew exactly what it meant to those who had endured the Dublin-dominated era without reward.

He had even said in an interview before returning that it would be “bittersweet” if Westmeath beat Dublin while he was away, a victory he had chased for so long. Instead, he was “very lucky” to come back in time to be part of it. Yet he deliberately set that achievement aside.

“So I put that one aside to give the lads the full credit they deserve. And I actually picked, biased enough, of course, Westmeath versus Meath.”

That bias is steeped in history. Westmeath have not enjoyed many championship days over Meath. Trips into a Leinster summer against their neighbours have more often ended in frustration than celebration. This time, they went to Tullamore as “severe underdogs,” with Meath rightly touted as one of the favourites for the provincial crown.

Westmeath ripped up the script.

“The young lads for Westmeath that day were just unreal,” Heslin said, his admiration obvious. The scores flew in from all angles. Shane Corcoran lashed home a wonder goal. Matty Whittaker struck another and then used that platform to build a season so strong it earned him a place on The Sunday Game Team of the Year.

That afternoon felt different. Not just a one-off ambush, but a sign of something stirring.

“It was a very special victory in Tullamore for Westmeath that day and there was a sense on that day that this Westmeath team has something special in it.”

For Heslin, that feeling has not faded. It lives with him as both supporter and servant, as someone who has stood on the terrace and stood in the dressing room.

“So that for me will live long in my memory as a Westmeath fan, but obviously now still as a player as well.”

Mayo have shown that the longest waits can end, that old patterns can be shattered. Westmeath have already started chipping away at their own ceilings. With Heslin still “current for now” and the young guns surging through, the question is no longer whether they dare to hope. It is how far that hope can take them.