No empire lasts forever. Just ask the Romans. Or the Dublin footballers.
So when you have a team as successful as the Limerick hurlers, who will pursue their fifth All-Ireland title in six years this summer, the temptation is to try to spot the signs of impending decline.
They are scarce. But one thing that might have given the Treaty's rivals some solace is the fact that Limerick's starting line-up had barely changed since the first of their Liam MacCarthy wins under John Kiely in 2018. Time would bring them back to the pack.
Kiely might yet stick with the tried and tested but the performances of the likes of Colin Coughlan, Adam English and Cathal O'Neill in this year's Allianz Hurling League are surely giving him food for thought.
Ahead of Sunday's final meeting with Kilkenny, Tom Morrissey, now a grizzled veteran of almost 27, admits that the battle for a starting jersey is heating up.
"We have fairly healthy competition for places in the squad at the moment," the two-time All-Star half-forward tells RTÉ Sport.
"A lot of the lads have gotten opportunities and put their hands up that have come through with the U-20s last year and are in the panel now.
"The training matches are definitely competitive. While there's a burning desire to obviously win competitive matches against other counties like at the weekend, there's also a burning desire to win any training match that's played behind closed doors between us as well.
"They definitely get fiery and maybe a small bit over the line at times but it's all in good nature. I suppose it just shows how lads are pushing and trying to get the best out of themselves. That brings the best out of each other and your team-mates as a result.
"That's what you love to see, young lads like that who don't really care what you've done or what's gone on with this team in the past, they've got their own agenda and they want to make sure they're successful. That as a result drives everyone on and creates that healthy competition that any successful team needs. You need to be on your toes and you need to be pushing yourself to make sure that you're bringing up the standard with them and try to stay maybe a step ahead.
"For any successful team you need lads constantly coming in and pushing the lads who are there so you have that paranoia. When you're dealing with top-level sport, complacency is the rot when it comes to improving. This team will eventually move on and you need top-quality players coming in to keep winning in the county going. If you don't have those new guys coming in there will be a natural end to the cycle.
"Where I am now, at this stage of the career, having started the last few years, there's still a huge buzz and hunger to make sure you retain your spot on the team and that you drive on to another level and a higher level and keep improving. That's what you're striving for now."
Limerick are back in the league decider having trained heavily throughout last year's competition, with a knock-on affect on results.
After the All-Ireland triumph and club campaign, they resumed training in December but Morrissey is confident they can go full guns blazing this weekend and still have plenty in the tank to challenge for a fourth Liam MacCarthy Cup in a row.
"My last club game was the end of September so even going back in December I already had two full months off, which is more than enough off," he says. "You're raring to get back on the horse at that stage. Maybe that’s why we changed tack. We still got plenty of rest and recovery and it’s standing to us now.
"We have full faith in Cairbre [O'Caireallain, S&C coach], Paul [Kinnerk] and John to manage our load and get these peaks and troughs right. I think it’s definitely for the better. We trained hard in December but we had two weeks off again for our team holiday at the start of January. They definitely worth flogging a dead horse or anything like that. We’re still feeling fresh and ready to go.
"[Sunday] is a national title and there aren't that many competitions that we play in. My view would always be to get as much as you can while you can. We’re competitors. Whatever competition you are in, you want to win it.
"If you’re picked to play, you’re going to go out to win. Managers are going to have that rotation element, that they want to get as much of the squad sufficient game time and get a look at lads. That’s going to be there but I know John has a policy that you’re only getting game time on merit, you have to be playing well in training or with your college team. So when you’re selected you want to make the most of that time you have, so you get to put in a proper claim for a position come the latter stages of competitions."
Will O'Donoghue will miss the showdown with Kilkenny after he was retrospectively banned for a clash with Tipperary's Alan Tynan before the semi-final throw-in. Kyle Hayes also missed a league game for an off-the-ball flick at an opponent.
Physically dominating opponents has played a big role in Limerick's success but Morrissey is aware they need to avoid any more suspensions with championship just a fortnight away.
"Each individual has to be mindful and careful of their actions," he says. "Both incidents were with hurleys raised and you know anything around the head these days will be punished. Just make sure that it doesn't happen again really because going into championship you don’t want lads missing games. It’s disappointing for Will not to be able to play this weekend in a national final.
"It is a balancing act. You don’t want a player to lose his aggression but at the same time it does have to be contained and in a disciplined manner. That’s something we have to aware of as individuals, that we don’t put ourselves in the position where you might have to force the ref into a decision or a review after a game that might jeopardise your chances of playing.
"You want to be a physical team, you want to tackle as much as you can. It’s just about making sure that we’re disciplined when we do tackle and we’re involved in contact with other players."
Watch highlights of all the weekend's championship football and the Allianz Hurling League final on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 9.30pm
