How does a team keep coming back after the agony of coming so close to glory?
For Mayo goalkeeper David Clarke, the answer is simple. Just focus on the here and now.
Clarke was on the wrong end of of the All-Ireland final result in 2006 against Kerry, Jim McGuiness' Donegal in 2012 and, for the last two years, the all-conquering Dubs.
"There were a few days of disappointment but on the Wednesday I went back training with the club. You just have to get back in the groove," the 34-year-old says of last September's latest punch in the guts.
"I enjoy playing football so it was a matter of getting back with the club and playing for another two or three months.
"Come January I had no hesitation in coming back again. I enjoyed the year and the competition.
"If you were to sit down and think too much about it you could tie yourself into a knot... is it ever going to happen?
"But when you enjoy playing football and training, you just try to make the most of it and get out there as much as you can.
"Obviously I’m getting a bit older now so you try and make the most of every year you’re around the set up and see what happens.
"But when I go to bed I’m not crying myself to sleep.
"Maybe in a few years’ time when you stop you might look back a bit differently at things but when you’re in the middle of it you just keep on going and make the best of it."
Clarke was dropped for the final replay in 2016 but came off the bench when his surprise replacement Rob Hennelly received a black card.
He was named that year's All-Star keeper but the experience has clearly left him wary of looking further than nailing down his place for the next match - a Connacht meeting with old rivals Galway on Sunday.
"Obviously most lads on the panel will say they want to win the All-Ireland but you’re not sitting down every day saying that," he offers.
"First of all, I want to make the team. I want to do well at training because there’s huge pressure in my position to do well.
"Me sitting at home saying "I want to win the All-Ireland", next thing I won’t be playing on the team at all.
"You have a general focus at the top of the mountain but it’s all small steps. Training, training and working through the league. The next step for us is Galway.
"Most lads are back because they enjoy playing football but also they see that there is an opportunity, if we do get all our small steps together, that we can challenge for an All-Ireland title again.
"Without getting that performance against Galway, getting to those levels and standards we talked about, it’s a very slippery slope, it could all be over very quickly."
The Tribesmen have reasserted themselves after a long period of Mayo dominance. They are aiming for three wins in a row over their neighbours in Connacht and reached this year's Allianz Football League final in their first season back in the top-flight.
Not to mention handing out a five-point beating when the teams met in February.
"They’ve really developed as a team, physically and tactically. They’re strong at the back, strong going forward, hard enough to break down," observes Clarke.
"They’re going hugely well in Division One. They’re bringing all the form.
"They got the better of us the last number of times we played them in League and Championship so we’re going to have to try and do something different,
"We’re going to have to bring a different intensity or different dimension to our game to get over them.
"Win or lose, the season isn’t over. But you want to lay down a marker. This is the game we really want to win.
"The last number of years it’s gone against us. There hasn’t been much in it but they have probably controlled the games. That’s something we’ve had to work tactically on, try and break down their defensive system.
A lot of that comes down to ourselves, our mind-set. Are we at our best or slightly below that. If we’re slightly below that it will be a difficult day again."
Mayo have come closer than any other team to stopping the Dubs. Does he think they can stop the four in a row this year?
"It hasn’t been something I’ve sat down and talked about: ‘Can we beat Dublin this year?’
"If we get ourselves into our best position, physically, mentally, and getting all our best players on the pitch, we can compete with anybody.
"But if we don’t look after our small things week in and week out, we could be beaten by anybody at the same time."
The Ballina man won his second All-Star last November, edging out fellow Player of the Year Stephen Cluxton.
He professes to being surprised at goalkeepers being nominated at all but pays tribute to his Dublin counterpart, whoe he believes has "changed the game".
"It wasn’t something I saw coming," he says. "There’s a lot said about kickouts and the importance of goalkeepers at the moment.
"I didn’t foresee myself being in the mix for it. As a fan I see the footballers as the boys out the pitch kicking the ball over the bar and making the tackles and blocks.
"It’s like a sport within a sport, at times, goalkeeping.
"The brilliance of Stephen (Cluxton). The way that he’s changed the game, brought it to new levels and changed the way goalkeeping is thought about. I’m just following on from him.
"Just his kicking ability. When I started I wasn’t kicking the way I’m kicking now and that’s probably because Stephen did it so well and other managers and teams wanted something similar.
"You either develop with that or you’re going to be left behind.
"It was lovely to get the (All-Star) award but I’m sure it was the toss of a coin. There wasn’t much between us.
"Again, like a lot of things, maybe when you’re finished you’ll think about them.
"For me, the way Andy (Moran) played throughout the year, the scores from play with someone man-marking him, when I think of a Footballer of the Year, that’s what I think of."
Follow Mayo v Galway this Sunday via our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the News Now App, watch exclusive television coverage on RTÉ2 or listen to exclusive national radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
Follow Dublin v Kilkenny this Sunday via our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the News Now App from 1.30pm, watch live and exclusive TV coverage on RTÉ2 or listen to exclusive radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1.
