Padraic Mannion believes Galway have the steel - and leaders - to drive towards glory this summer, but warned they must take the perilous journey to the Holy Grail of an All-Ireland crown one step at a time.
The Tribesmen overturned a ten-point deficit to dump Waterford out at the quarter-final stages of the Allianz Hurling League last Sunday.
They head into their last-four tussle with Limerick this weekend brimming with confidence, and corner-back Mannion has urged his team to kick on an dprove they have the mettle to make waves this summer.
"We took massive confidence from that win," he told RTÉ Sport.
"To go ten points down against a team of Waterford's quality, maybe in the past we mightn't have come back and won that game.
"One of the things we're focusing on now is trying to get a consistency that no matter what the game is or who we're playing that you can always work; even if you're ten points behind you can keep working.
"When you're looking for leaders to stand up, you'd be hoping that you wouldn't be looking to one or two players; you'd be hoping for 15 leaders on the field. In the past we mightn't have had that.
"We mightn't have had the players who were able to stand up and take the game by the scruff of the neck when we were behind or in a tough place. But you could see there were leaders all over the field the last day."
It's now 29 years since Galway got their paws on the Liam MacCarthy Cup.
There's been enormous frustration and disappointment in the county in that barren stretch, but Mannion is hoping a strong end to this league campaign will prove the perfect launchpad for a genuine crack at the big one.
"Your goal, why you play hurling, is to win an All-Ireland," he said. "You have to go out and take every game as it comes. That's where the consistency comes in; by treating every game as an All-Ireland final.
"You just have to take it one game at a time, one step at a time. If you do that, it will eventually lead to an All-Ireland final.
"The league is massive for experience for the younger players. When I came in 2015, we were in Division 1A, and just coming into the panel I got games against the top teams in maybe a less pressurised environment than the championship.
"It gives you massive confidence to see you can compete with them. This league was no different with 34 players seeing game time.
"You want to stay in the league as long as you can so it gets you closer to the championship."
