The last man to lead a team to four All-Ireland football titles in a row says Tyrone are just not ready for Sam.
Jimmy Deenihan was the Kerry captain when they won the title in 1981 - beating Offaly 1-12 to 0-08 - and reckons Dublin’s dreams of the illusive five-in-a-row will be well and truly alive come Sunday evening.
"I just don’t think that Tyrone are really ready yet to win an All-Ireland," he told RTÉ Sport's Damien O'Meara.
"Tyrone are very good in finals and Mickey Harte has never lost an All-Ireland. I would expect that they’d give a very good account of themselves.
"This team has the potential to win an All-Ireland over the next three years.
"They’ll have to play exceptionally well and Dublin will have to have an off-day or a mediocre day.
"It’s a home game for Dublin, I’m sure they feel it’s their home pitch, it’s a big advantage.
"They are very familiar and comfortable playing in Croke Park.
"Most of the Tyrone players will have experienced playing in Croke Park but it’s a big help to Dublin.
"Tyrone will play better and be closer than people expect."
Football has changed – "it’s a different game totally now" – but the language of the winners is not too dissimilar.
"The process" is a Jim Gavin stable.
And the word cropped up when Deenihan was asked to describe what sort of pressure his side were under in 1981 as they tried to emulate the Kerry side of the early 1930s and the Wexford team who had prevailed from 1915 to 1918.
"At that stage 1981 was just part of the process and we just couldn’t see ourselves losing," said Deenihan, whose side missed out on the five-in-a-row the following year after a one-point defeat to Offaly in the final.
"We had a strong positive attitude about winning. 1981 was a continuation of the previous All-Irelands.
"We were thinking that we’d win in ‘82 afterwards.
"We were confident that we’d win, maybe that was our undoing."
There will be no game of ball Sunday without the game ball. @Sweeney_Peter went out to @ONeills1918 to see how the 🏐🏐🏐 are prepared #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/Ew280pA2uU
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) August 30, 2018
Follow the All-Ireland senior football final via our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the News Now App, watch television coverage on The Sunday Game Live from 2.30pm on RTÉ 2 and RTÉ Player. Listen to exclusive national radio commentary on Sunday Sport, RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm on RTÉ 2.
