Down assistant manager Marty Clarke says the lessons learned from defeat this season have helped steer the county to this weekend's Tailteann Cup final.
Under the watch of manager Conor Laverty, Clarke, Mickey Donnelly and Declan Morgan, the Down panel has trained diligently since last November with the biggest learnings coming after defeats to Cavan and Fermanagh (league), Armagh (Ulster Championship) and Meath (Tailteann Cup).
Along the way they also recorded five league wins, beat Donegal in Ulster and now face Meath in Saturday's Tailteann Cup decider at Croke Park, live on RTÉ.
"The No 1 takeaway is what we learned from our defeats," said Clarke.
"It’s not something that Conor has to deal with a lot in his career with Kilcoo so losing doesn’t sit well with him," he smiled.
"It’s win or learn, that’s our mantra. Against Fermanagh and Cavan, those were tough defeats to take.
"We had to work out why we didn’t win and hopefully we took something from those because we never lost two games in row. We bounced back and learned from each loss."
Watch highlights of Down's eight-goal hammering of Laois in the Tailteann Cup semi-finals
As he sits and chats football, Clarke is a man who looks totally at ease. Family and football - those are his two obsessions outside of work.
Down are lucky to have him in the fold. A class act as a player, he retired from the game at 29 after being diagnosed with Addison’s Disease - a disorder which results in the adrenal glands not producing enough steroid hormones - three years ago. It affects only one in every 100,000 people.
But Clarke had a great career before his playing days ended. He played with AFL side Collingwood - winning 73 caps - before returning to the Mourne County, helping them reach the All-Ireland final in 2010.
He won an All-Star in 2010, five years after winning an Ulster U21 Football title and an All-Ireland Minor Championship.
When he joined the current Down set-up under Conor Laverty, he was sure of the potential on their books.
"Conor asked me to come along and he was very bullish on where the team could go," added Clarke. "He spoke of the athleticism and quality that was there.
"I covered lots of Down games [Clarke is also a TV analyst] and I knew of the quality but the one thing was that we couldn’t win or get over the line and we were at the wrong end of some bad scorelines.
"That hurt players’ confidence. It challenged them too. So we worked the boys hard in pre-season, got some good stuff going in the McKenna Cup, got momentum and we started to play football like what we wanted to see.
"As I say there were plenty of hiccups with those four defeats but lots of positives too. We are looking for a fourth win on the spin against Meath, but the chief thing is that I know myself when Down teams win, you come to train with a smile on your face, work hard and try to keep it going."
They have beaten Longford, Cavan and Laois en route to the final and Clarke says the exposure to Croke Park and the big day is huge.
"It’s enormous for all of us, just to get back there as Croke Park is a very unique environment and the psychological rewards are there too because you are playing where all the greats in Ireland have played.
"It was a great display against Laois but getting back there for the final is the thing and to see can they back it up."
As a coach, Clarke is conscious of the evolution of the game with so many teams mirroring each other but he stresses that Laverty and the backroom want people on their team to play to their strengths.
"We have very good pace and we are trying to play a certain system and format and we’re getting close to that now.
"But you also have to get your defence right, your kick-outs right, to defend kick-outs at the other end. Then you need to have that desperation for the Down jersey.
"We are getting there. It’s been an incredible journey on the go since November. We put serious time and energy in, we are on the phone all the time and becoming closer across the entire camp.
"What would make it really successful would be to win the final but we know we’re up against the highest-seeded team in terms of league placings, with an iconic man in Colm O’Rourke in charge, people like Sean Boylan helping him and great coaches like Paul [Garrigan] and Eugene [Ivers] coaching a fine bunch of Meath players.
"The task ahead is a big one."
Watch the Tailteann Cup final, Meath v Down, on Saturday from 2.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
