Anticipation in Limerick for this weekend's All-Ireland hurling final hasn't quite reached the fever pitch of 2018.
That is perhaps to be expected, given the 45 years worth of demons that were exorcised that day against Galway, not to mention this year's Covid-19 enforced absence of fans and the accompanying panic for tickets.
"It's the total opposite of the build-up to 2018," Limerick captain Declan Hannon tells RTÉ Sport. "First and foremost, we're putting up a Christmas tree and trying to get ready for an All-Ireland final, which is gas.
"The hype around Limerick in 2018 was massive. I'm working at home and not really seeing anyone so if there is hype going on I haven't seen it, other than a few more flags around the place and a bit of bunting going up, mixed in with the Christmas lights, which is great to see.
"It's going to be different again this time with no crowd there. In '18 the noise around Croke Park and even with the supporters driving into the stadium was amazing, it gave you a big boost. That's not going to be there this time and I'm sure it's massively disappointing for Waterford supporters as well as Limerick supporters.
"It’s different but we are absolutely delighted to be in this position. From a player's point of view it's quite similar, you're getting ready as best you can over the next 10 days and ready then to face Waterford on Sunday."
Hannon believes that having that first title in the bag should help his squad to feel a bit more relaxed but they now also have the novel situation of being final favourites to deal with.
"We're more experienced now of playing in these bigger games whereas in '18 it was for a lot of us our first time in semi-finals and All-Ireland finals in Croke Park," he says.
"In 2018, everybody in Ireland wanted Limerick to win - bar if you were from Galway - and I suppose this year it'll be everybody in Ireland wants Waterford to win, bar if you're from Limerick.
"So it's a total role-reversal for ourselves. But again, it's down to us to focus on our preparation and to get to the pitch in the best possible shape and to put in a performance on the day.
"You don't get to All-Irelands every single year so when you do you have to make hay. Who knows what's going to happen next year or the year after."
There are concerns that John Kiely's men didn't quite hit their stride against Waterford - in the Munster final - or Galway, who drew level near the end of the semi-final, but yet they closed out both games.
"You can feel it on the field that there's not a real flow that we'd be used to in our game, at times," admits centre-back Hannon.
"But again that's down to the massive intensity and work-rate that Waterford brought to the Munster final and that Galway brought the last day. It's not always going to be as free-flowing as you'd like it to be.
"Years have gone by where Limerick have given good performances and after the game you'd say, 'Jeez, that was a great performance' but you still lost. It's maybe good as well that we've probably played the last two games not firing on all cylinders but still getting the result."
Waterford are now the only thing stopping the 28-year-old Adare man from lifting Liam MacCarthy for the second time.
How does Hannon think the Déise have managed to turn things around so dramatically after three years without a championship win?
"It just seems they're massively together at the minute," he says. "They're really, really working hard for each other, and with a massive amount of skill there as well.
"They were in an All-Ireland final in 2017 and you don't become a bad team overnight. There's a massive togetherness and a real hunger that is really difficult to break down and in that semi-final they were very, very good.
"It looked as if Kilkenny were going to run away with it after 20, 25 minutes but Waterford, as they've done all year, just stuck to their guns and got stuck in and worked really, really hard and turned it around. They were hugely, hugely impressive so they were.
"The intensity that they brought to that game (the Munster final) was unbelievable. It was probably the first time all year that we'd met anything like it. They attack in numbers and they defend in numbers.
"They're unbelievably skilful on the ball, look at Stephen Bennett at the minute, you give him a yard or two and he'll punish you. Same with Dessie Hutchinson and these lads.
"They're a team, a real unit at the minute and it's very hard to break that."
Watch the All-Ireland senior hurling final between Limerick and Waterford and the Joe McDonagh Cup final between Antrim and Kerry live on RTÉ2 from 12.30pm Sunday, listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 or follow our live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and the RTÉ News app. Highlights on The Sunday Game (9.30pm RTÉ2).
