The expectation that Sunday's Dublin-Kerry All-Ireland final will be close is shared by most observers, with how the Dubs deal with the mercurial talent that is David Clifford key in deciding where Sam Maguire rests over the winter.
Of course other battles across the pitch will also have a bearing, such as the Brian Howard v Jack Barry collision in midfield and how tight the respective defences will be.
But back to the youngest Clifford brother. He again was at his storming best when kicking nine points against Derry in the semi-final.
In the lead up to this final, Dublin boss Dessie Farrell admitted that the Fossa clubman's ability has 'kept us up late at night'. A case of all hands on deck it would seem, according to the Farrell when he spoke to RTÉ Sport.
"I think ultimately it's going to be a team effort. It will require a great team defence. He is a unique player, a special talent, and we're going to do our best to rise to that challenge."
Former Dublin star Michael Darragh MacAuley played against Clifford towards the end of his career and views him as a "phenomenal" player, yet he believes that Dublin players will champing at the bit to silence the 24-year-old on Gaelic football's biggest day.
Speaking in his role as an Allianz ambassador ahead of Sunday's showdown, MacAuley said: "There is a hunger to mark David Clifford within the Dublin team. Now if I was there I'd run a mile because he'd murder me. He's unbelievable to watch.
"I'd regularly be marking a big player on the opposition team and I'd love if the player had a particularly good game the day before I played him – a semi-final before a final. You'd like to think that might take the edge off him. You like to hear people patting the opposition on the back just before you play them.
"David, however, is a different ball game. He brings an outrageous level of consistency; there really isn't peaks and troughs with him; he operates at a high level consistently. But our lads want this. They'll be fights in the dressing room as to who'll get to mark him.
"You look to Mick Fitzsimons and David Byrne, the pair of them will be tearing hair out to mark him.
"They have marked all the best players over the last number of years. David will play his game but I back the lads to cause him trouble."
While MacAuley has referenced the likelihood of some tension in the camp with regard to the task of nullifying Kerry's best player, he did add that the Dublin dressing room is now "surprisingly calm" in advance of big games.
"It's the philosophy of ours, at times previous it was a bit hectic," he said.
"At half-time in matches there is now the overemphasis on being calm. That is a huge thing because previously we were out of control and were bringing crazy energy. It's that kind of controlled aggression that we are constantly trying to bring.
"Everyone looks at their own section. The backs look at the backs, midfield looks at midfield and the forwards at the forwards.
"We then come together and try and get a sense of what is going on. Why are we getting murdered in midfield? Why are things not happening in the forwards? And then you come together and see can you problem-solve as a group.
"It's about trying to be as effective in that small window as possible. I've been in dressing room where people are shouting and roaring at half-time; nobody gets anything out of it. Everyone knows that even if you're losing shouting about it isn't going to help.
"You need to be constructive at all times so if our full-back is getting roasted, what are we going to do about it? We have 10 minutes here to fix this problem. Less of the macho stuff, it's just having smarts.
"It's not one of those games that you really need risen speeches; there isn't anyone who is half up for this game. It should be a case of doing the talking on the pitch."
It's three years since Dublin completed their six in a row. Since then, they have fallen at the semi-final hurdle.
A chance now for a few in the squad to win a first All-Ireland medal, for others it will be adding to an already bulging collection.
A big incentive for all involved, says the Ballyboden St Enda's clubman.
"Some of the lads don't have All-Ireland medals. Some of the lads were used to it and then it was taken off them; a little bit of exile. It's short in relative terms but that has really put the fire underneath them.
"We're hoping as supporters that it has lit something underneath them."
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