Tomorrow, I will attend a Mayo-Dublin game at Croke Park as a supporter for the first time since the 2006 All-Ireland semi-final.
That was an amazing occasion and a number of things stayed with me from that day, particularly the noise from Hill 16, ‘come on you boys in blue’ and all that.
Having won an under-21 All-Ireland only a few months before, I felt that these occasions weren’t far away, but my senior career was stop-start and Mayo and Dublin were like ships in the night until the 2012 semi-final.
For three weeks before that game, drawing on six years earlier, I prepared by playing a YouTube clip of Hill 16 in full voice repeatedly through my earphones during skills sessions in my home pitch in Ballindine, gym sessions and even in the car to MacHale Park for training.
That victory was sweet, but not quite how I had imagined it would be. I was struck down with a virus the night before which meant I couldn’t start. I came on with 20 minutes to go and was completely out on my feet by full-time. It took its toll and I spent five nights in hospital.
But a fierce rivalry developed with Dublin. We played nine times in as many years, including two replays, with Dublin winning six, though we finally ended their reign in the 2021 semi-final.
In the four finals they beat us in, three of them were by a point. No matter how far we pushed them, they always seemed to have an answer.
The 2013 final sticks in the craw as Dublin didn’t have to play well to win that day and if we had got the result, I believe we would have had greater wherewithal to turn them over more at least once more subsequently. Instead, history weighed heavier on us while they were liberated by their success and developed into a winning machine.
In 2016, on a wet and dreary day, Dublin were at their most vulnerable. It will always be remembered for our two early own goals, one of which went in off me.
Most inter-county teams will have ‘what if’ scenarios planned in advance but that was so far-fetched that you wouldn’t even waste time on it.
The way the ball ricocheted off my foot after Dean Rock lost control of it and went past David Clarke was freakish, but the disappointing thing for me was that I got caught on a set piece move in which Rock showed in front and then spun in behind when Diarmuid Connolly had the ball outside the 45.
In 2017, we probably played our best game as a team but, again, Dublin found a way. Heartbreaking defeats made me envy Dublin, and how could I not? They were taking our dreams on what seemed a yearly basis.
But we can say what we like now - we had our chances and didn’t take them when the big moments came.
Did I hate them? Yes. But I would have hated the majority of the teams that I played against. I always tried to find something in the opposition to hone in on and, with Dublin, you could multiply it times a thousand because they got the better of us so often and I desperately wanted what they had.
Players and management came and went but we kept coming back. The win in 2021, though I didn’t get off the bench, was certainly sweet but well overdue. Enough was finally enough.
The term ‘going to war’ is often thrown out in sporting contests but that’s how I felt going in against Dublin. Anything less and they would blow you away.
As good as Dublin were in a footballing context, and they were sensational, physically they were animals. We had to meet that head on and that led to flashpoints.
I don’t want to portray us angels; there were plenty of moments on either side where the line was crossed but I always felt that, overall, they got away with more than we did. They’d probably say the opposite.
In that 2017 final, I ended up on my back with Eoghan O’Gara standing over me with, to put it charitably, his fingers uncomfortably close to my eyes. Nothing ever came of it.
Call me paranoid, but I can’t help feeling that that wouldn’t have been the case if, say, I or Lee Keegan did it to one of them.
There were verbals but, as a backline, we weren’t as industrious with that sort of stuff as the likes of Philly McMahon, James McCarthy or John Small up the other end.
There’s very little that didn’t happen in those games, from the last-minute winners (and levellers) to sendings off, own goals, to GPS trackers flying, players being dragged down all over the pitch in the dying seconds; everything was covered.
Outside of that, there was some sensational football and two teams that didn’t like each other playing every ball like their lives depended on it.
The hatred that I referenced was really only superficial and has subsided now. You have to move on and, when I retired, I received lovely messages from Ciaran Kilkenny, Jonny Cooper and Paul Flynn, reflective of the mutual respect that was there.
That will always be there.
Belief from Killarney and Salthill can see Mayo home
There's a whiff of The Last Dance about Dublin this year.
The return of Stephen Cluxton, Jack McCaffrey and Paul Mannion along with the ageing legs of Michael Fitzsimons and James McCarthy gives the impression that Dessie Farrell is throwing everything at this rather than trying to develop players like David O’Hanlon for the future, which is a dangerous game.
Despite a change in format, Dublin have still pretty much cruised into the quarter-final.
I said from the outset that I believed it would be the quarter-finals before we see the real Dublin. For a team that has won so much, they need knockout football to get the juices flowing. The sight of a Mayo jersey will certainly help.
Mayo generally do it the hard way; what should have been a rest weekend for them was instead a ferocious battle in Salthill. They battled incredibly hard but will know deep down that that performance won’t be good enough again.
The time for inconsistency is over, or else that win will count for nothing.
I am convinced Dublin are going to be ultra-aggressive on the Mayo kickout early on. Mayo only won seven of their 20 restarts against Galway, four out 13 in the first half - a repeat of that tomorrow and the game will be over at half-time.
That isn’t all down to Colm Reape as Mayo need to create more options and get bodies to their break zones. Too often against Galway they were outnumbered, which shouldn’t happen on your own kickout.
Much has been said of how Dublin shouldn’t let this game descend into chaos, but if I was a Dublin player I’d nearly be insulted by that. They will feel they have the footballers to beat Mayo on any terms.
From Mayo’s point of view, belief will be harnessed from recent wins in Killarney and Salthill; it’s now time to repeat the trick in the lion’s den in Croke Park and I believe they are in a great position to do so.
There will be nothing straightforward about this but if Mayo really test Dublin’s will in a genuine battle, then I think they can cut the music to this Last Dance.
Kerry teetering on the brink
Can Tyrone repeat the trick of two years ago and ambush the Kingdom?
Twelve of that team started last week against Donegal last week. Tyrone will feel they have the edge in a lot of the match-ups throughout the field. One of those is in midfield.
If Conn Kilpatrick and Brian Kennedy can win that battle it will give them a huge platform to win the game.
David Clifford has been sensational this year but if the Tyrone defence can curtail his influence to that of even a normal human being, then Kerry could struggle.
Darragh Canavan is up there in the top three or four forwards in the county right now and, along with his younger brother Ruairi and a rejuvenated Mattie Donnelly, they can cause the Kerry defence major trouble.
Maybe, similar to Dublin, Kerry need the jeopardy of knockout football for them to really kick into gear but I think there are warning signs all over this game for them.
Tyrone may well hit the ejector button on the All-Ireland Champions.
Forgotten quarter-final could be the pick of the lot
Armagh-Monaghan could be the surprise game of the weekend in terms of excitement and could go all the way to extra time or penalties.
Monaghan certainly won’t fear Armagh but Kieran McGeeney must see this is his golden ticket to Armagh’s first semi-final since 2005, and I think they will do enough to win it.
Derry on a mission
Derry should have enough to reach another All-Ireland semi-final but I don’t believe it will be as straightforward as many people think.
A huge factor in Cork’s renaissance has been their midfield powerhouses, Colm O’Callaghan and Ian Maguire. Their battle with Conor Glass and Brendan Rogers is almost a throwback Anthony Tohill and Shea Fahy in 1993.
But Derry are a team on a mission though and they won’t be stopped here.
