Kieran Donaghy says his Garvey's Tralee Warriors team-mates took the lessons on board from Austin Stacks' Munster club football final defeat to St Finbarr's in Saturday's InsureMyHouse.ie Pat Duffy Cup final.
Tralee did a lot of heavy lifting in the first half at the National Basketball Arena and they were able to hold off a Neptune fightback in the final quarter.
It had been the opposite for Stacks six days earlier, as they couldn't quite recover from the concession of an early goal as Barr's claimed a first provincial crown since 1986.
Speaking on RTÉ's Sunday Sport Donaghy, who played in both matches, says the defeat for his gaelic football side had offered his basketball colleagues a warning.
"Unfortunately I was part of a game last week against St Finbarr's where they came out and punched us in the mouth straight away," the 38-year-old told the programme.
"It took us a while to adapt, and when we did adapt we ended up losing the game last week. I just said to the lads that we have to be the ones doing the swinging and punching early.
"I felt the boys did that and we were in control from the get-go."
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It marked a first national cup success for a club that was formed in 2016. Donaghy had previously won cup medals in 2005 and 2007 with the Tralee Tigers side before they disappeared in 2009.
The Warriors club came about from an amalgamation of St Brendan's and Imperials, of which Donaghy played an instrumental part, and they returned to the Super League. Although there has been success there, winning the title in 2019, the cup had alluded them until Saturday.
"I'm delighted for the club," he added.
"It's been a long six years trying to get here. It's my passion. I'm a basketballer - I morphed into a footballer. Even now with [football] coaching it's basketball that I look to for new ideas.
"'05 and '07 were special but I think bringing the clubs together, having the peace talks as we called them, having the crowd littered with both Brendan's and Imperials people, it's huge for the town."
Donaghy will be able to celebrate the victory, but he'll still be busy with Gaelic football as he continues his work as part of Kieran McGeeney's management team at Armagh.
The Orchard County will begin their return to the top flight of the Allianz League with a trip to Croke Park on Saturday to take on Dublin.
"I'm going up to training on Monday night in Armagh, and then I'll be in Dublin on Saturday.
"It's a big game for the Armagh boys. They haven't been in Croke Park for a while and they're going up against the best team of all time.
"It's a huge opportunity for our fellas."
