A new championship terrain for the Dublin footballers. No Leinster medals will be won this year.
Thoughts are now well and truly focused on the All-Ireland series, which they probably were on to some degree before last Sunday's Leinster semi-final defeat at the hands of Meath.
The Dubs can have no qualms. They trailed by 12 at the break, a deficit which proved insurmountable away from the familiar surrounding on Jones' Road.
Watching on from the stands was Dublin attacker Seán Bugler. An ankle injury meant he had to sit out at Laois Hire O'Moore Park, this after again impressing for his county at various stages during the league. With Eoin Murchan, Cian Murphy, Sean McMahon and Luke Breathnach also injured, it was no surprise afterwards that Dubs boss Dessie Farrell said: "We need to develop that little bit of depth in the squad for a day like this".
Bugler, however, is confident as to where he stands on the injury front, telling a Dublin GAA media event with sponsors Staycity Aparthotels: "I'll be back on the pitch in the next few days. I just picked up a niggle there last week. Sunday probably came a bit too early for me. I was disappointed to miss out on the game. but there are a few weeks now to get myself right."
As to what played out against old foes Meath, the St Oliver Plunketts/Eoghan Ruadh clubman was not making any excuses.
"Really, really disappointing and we just didn't perform on the day," was his summation.
"Just basic errors. Fundamentals, just didn't execute them. Look, no matter who you're playing, if you're not going to execute the basic skills for a full 70 minutes, you're going to be chasing your tail.
"Full credit to Meath, they deserved to win on the day. They came up with a game-plan. They stuck with it. They executed it. They full deserved their win on the day.
"Look, it is what it is. You have to take it. I suppose the positive thing for us is we're still in the championship. Our goal of winning the Sam Maguire hasn't changed.
"We'll delve into the performance on Sunday and take the learnings from it. Yeah, move on."
No doubt, Bugler and co are assessing why they were off it for much of that clash with Meath. It's not the first time this year the Dubs have found themselves in a trough, not the landscape they are used to operating from.
It's a simple fix, says Bugler, but more difficult to attain game-on game.
"Consistency is obviously something we're trying to go after," the 27-year-old remarked.
"It doesn't help when you have so many injuries within the group. Not an excuse. We're just trying to chase the consistency for a full 70 minutes. We know we're coming into the business end of the season now, so we can't afford to go through phases of up and down in terms of performance."
In this new footballing world, spearheaded by the Dublin management Messiah Jim Gavin, the execution of two-pointers can quickly turn a game on its head.
Bugler contrasted how well the Dubs did in that regard when comparing one performance in the league against Kerry to that which ended their provincial stranglehold.
"I suppose we were in a similar position in Tralee at the start of the year down in Kerry, 11 down at half-time. We came back and clinched it at the end. I think the difference between that game and this game is just the basic errors, the fundamentals just let us down. The two-pointers that we shot, probably forced, didn't execute them. While down in Tralee, they were going over the bar."
And so the All-Ireland series now beckons for a side so used to going in as a top seed.
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But for Bugler, while the loss against their neighbours was a jolt, he's confident they can still put it up to "big teams" they'll undoubtedly will have to face if Sam Maguire is again to reside in the capital.
"Losing any game, you might question your confidence, but I see the talent, everyone sees the talent within the group.
"Yes, we haven't performed to our best. You could get a tough group, but look, we'll cherish it.
"If you want to win the All-Ireland, which we do, you're going to have to knock the big teams off their horse as well. So we'll look forward to it and really go after it.
"We'll really prime ourselves, whoever we get, and we'll really put ourselves in a decent position to put our best foot forward on the day. So, yeah, look, as I said, you want to play the big teams. You want to really test yourself against the big teams as well. So that's what we look forward to."
Watch a provincial football final double-header, Kerry v Clare (1.45pm) and Mayo v Galway (4pm) on Sunday from 1.15pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
