Dublin captain Niamh Collins doesn't feel that the side has lost its ruthless touch after suffering another hefty blow in last Saturday’s National League semi-final against Donegal.
Mick Bohan’s side were in complete control heading into the final moments, but the concession of two goals in 23 seconds saw them lose out 2-08 to 1-10, surrendering their Division 1 league crown in the process.
The shock and awe finish came six months after their five-in-a-row Brendan Martin Cup ambitions were ended by huge underdogs Meath, who claimed the All-Ireland crown for a first time.
Collins came back into the side for their loss to the Tir Chonaill County in Clones, but she doesn’t see much correlation between that defeat and their loss to the Royal County at Croke Park last year.
"I don’t think so," she replied when asked was it a concerning trend at the launch of the John West Féile 2022.
"I think they are two different entities. I think what happened in the All-Ireland final was different. We didn’t really get off the ground as much.
"This (Donegal) was more that we were comfortable and we let slip, so it’s a different error. I wouldn’t say they go hand in hand. I wouldn’t think that it is a trend that we necessarily have to be worried about but it’s something else that we need to address."
Collins was part of the Dublin panel in 2014 when they led Cork in the All-Ireland final by 10 points with 15 minutes remaining before they lost out by a point. Days like that - and last weekend - can happen, she said.
However, the Foxrock-Cabinteely club player did concede that Dublin's period of domination between 2017 and 2020 is unlikely to be repeated any time soon.
"The ladies football landscape has changed massively. You’re no longer going out at any point thinking 'I have this game, we’re going to beat this team’. It’s just not like that anymore.
"Everyone has raised their game to a level where it’s at least competitive and now you’re not looking at the top two reaching the final every year. It genuinely could be anyone in the top eight so I think it’s great. That’s what you want. You want to have competitive games.
"At the end of the day, we’re all individuals going out to win our All-Ireland but we’re also ambassadors for the game and the game we love to play, our national game, we want to raise the standard and that can’t just be one team. It has to be all teams so I think it’s really good that it’s competitive."
There's no doubting that Dublin will be a forefront of any All-Ireland conversation despite those two recent body blows.
Collins' first title with the team came all the way back in 2012 when she was part of the Leinster Championship winning squad, and the winning medals have stacked up since.
The landscape has changed considerably for the women's game over the last decade and Collins feels that the sport will only continue to grow.
"I would say it’s a little bit of everything," she replied when asked how it has changed.
"In terms of the actual sessions we get and backroom teams we have it is completely different. Full S&C teams, full stats teams, nutritionist. They weren’t in place 10 years ago so you were going out and doing your best at what you could do on the football field but there are a lot of other elements that feed into a team being successful.
"You can have all the football intelligence and be a great, clever footballer and train as hard as you want but if another team has those advantages, those benefits, it feeds into a successful team.
"That’s becoming the standard now, that’s becoming the par and the GPA have been great in terms of funding, ensuring that there is a charter we can get those structures in place across the board or at least work towards getting it across the board for all ladies teams."
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