Pressure of chasing multiple titles has got to greats in past so Gavin’s men have no way of knowing how they will react to the challenge

THE WEEK before the 2009 All-Ireland hurling final, Henry Shefflin was hit by a personal crisis. The countdown to Kilkenny’s attempt to become the first team to land the four-in-arow for 65 years was well under way, the county was buzzing with excitement with supporters loading on the good wishes whenever they encountered a player.

What they didn’t know was that the man in whom they had unbreakable trust felt lost. Shefflin, arguably the greatest hurler of all time, had doubts about whether he could even play, let alone make an impact.

This was his ninth All-Ireland final, but instead of his vast experience guiding him through the build-up, offered nothing.

Was it all down to the enormous pressure associated with the historical dimension of the upcoming occasion?

And did some Dublin players go through something similar this week? If so, what effect will it have on them, especially if Tyrone manage to apply sustained pressure?

Shefflin recalled in his autobiography how his wife Deirdre was talking in the car as they drove home one evening, but he heard nothing.

“My head was wrecked thinking of what was coming. I don’t normally suffer from bad nerves, but this was different.

“Three days to go and I was sinking into some kind of personal panic. It felt like the panic was making my batteries run down, literally stealing the strength from my legs.

“What am I going to do? I can’t play if

I’m like this.”

Kilkenny supporters who saw Shefflin in his normal life that week had no idea that their star man was experiencing such inner turmoil, just as Dublin fans are oblivious to what’s going through the minds of the players as they bid to become only the fourth team – and the first from the Capital – to win the football four-in-a-row.

It turned out well for Shefflin, even if his performance in the final wasn’t as good as some of those before or after. However, he held his nerve held when Kilkenny needed him most, as in the 63rd minute when he drilled a penalty to the net.

The goal put Kilkenny ahead, they added another goal almost immediately and won by five points. Dublin would be delighted with a similar result tomorrow, but they know that a win of any kind will only be achieved if they deliver a very high level of efficiency.

Constant

The constant mantra from the Dublin camp holds that the four-in-a-row is not an issue. Selector Declan Darcy said that while people might not believe that, it’s absolutely true.

“You’re probably thinking, he’s only saying that, but it’s not. It’s very deliberate too because if you look behind enough you will get caught.

“I’m sure fellas have reflected individually on what they’ve achieved, but the language is never about that. It’s not deliberate, it’s just the way it has evolved,” he said.

We believe him that the four-in-a-row hasn’t been mentioned in the camp, but that doesn’t mean the thought of achieving something so special isn’t weighing on players’ minds.

After all, Shefflin offered the ‘just another All-Ireland’ line before the 2009 final.

“It’s for the media more than anything else. We’ve said it in the first year, the second year and the third year – it doesn’t make any difference. It’s an All-Ireland final – we’re delighted to get there and whatever happens, happens after that,” he said shortly after the semi-final.

It all sounded so relaxed and straightforward, yet, by his own admission, he went through hell the week before the final. He later put it down to “trying to play the game three days early.”

Obviously, it was impossible for him to decide the extent to which the fourin-a-row distracted him, but it’s fair to assume that it played a prominent role.

Why else would such a level-headed individual go through such torture?

Kerry footballers completed the fourtimer in 1981, apparently without any undue difficulties if you judge it solely on the scorelines in all their games, yet there was a moment in the final when Offaly came close to throwing down a challenge which might have taken the game in a different direction.

Having scored the last three points of the first half to draw level, they came within inches of going a goal clear just after the restart, only for Gerry Carroll’s shot to thud off the crossbar.

Kerry were very edgy at that stage (was it four-in-a-row nerves?) but they steadied after that let-off, while Offaly lost momentum and were beaten by seven points..

A year later, Offaly ended Kerry’s five-in-a-row dream, coming back from a four-point second-half deficit to snatch victory through Seamus Darby’s famous goal.

Nobody will ever know the degree to which Kerry’s pursuit of the All-Ireland record impacted on their performance in 1982. However, it’s interesting that Mikey Sheehy, normally one of the deadliest finishers, who was playing in his seventh final, admitted in an interview that he never felt right that day.

Significantly, he had a penalty saved by Martin Furlong, which was crucial in keeping Offaly’s prospects alive.

“My legs were like rubber all though the game. I felt stiff and couldn’t get any movement going. Maybe it was the occasion but, for whatever reason, I didn’t get into the game,” he said.

It seems a fair assumption that the five-in-a-row was a factor in Sheehy being out of sorts.

Indeed, several other Kerry players fell well short of the remarkably high standards they had set over previous years. So while Dublin players will tell themselves that their date with destiny tomorrow won’t make any difference to how they perform, the reality is that they don’t know. Even for such a seasoned group, this is new.

Mick O’Dwyer, who led Kerry into their four-in-a-row and five-in-a-row quests, said yesterday that he doesn’t expect Dublin to be weighed down by expectations.

“It’s another All-Ireland final, no more and no less. The past won’t matter a bit. It won’t win or lose the game for Dublin. I don’t believe in that sort of stuff. What happens on a particular day is all that counts.

“If Dublin lose, it will be put down to going for the four-in-a-row even if it has nothing whatsoever to do with it. People always come up with a reason why a team loses, whether they are going for their first or their fourth All-Ireland,” he said.

Overwhelming

Of course, the question is whether the weight of expectation impacts on

‘People always come up with a reason why a team loses, whether they are going for their first or their fourth All-Ireland’

how players perform. In Dublin’s case, there’s the added consideration of being overwhelming favourites.

They dismiss that too as something over which they have no control and, as such, not worthy of consideration. That may work as a collective entity but squads are made up of individuals with their own private thoughts and perceptions.

Irrespective of how coldly analytical they may be, it must be very difficult after going unbeaten in the championship for over four years not to believe they are operating at a different level everybody else.

In most games, that has been the case, but they have also discovered that All-Ireland finals are different, having won their last five titles by a combined margin of just seven points.

And that was without the added pressure of bidding for four in a row, a challenge relatively few teams have encountered.

Process and protocols have been Dublin buzzwords for quite some time, delivered as if there was a certainty about them that doesn’t allow for misfires.

Attention to detail permeates everything they do, but sometimes a situation arises for which there can be no specific preparation. Going for the four-in-a-row is one of them.

It’s why Dublin will probably have to rely on instinct more than management would like tomorrow.

Just as Offaly got energy off the perceived certainty of Kerry’s winning the five-in-a-row in 1982, Tyrone have been attempting to feed off their role as outsiders.

They have been trying to coax Dublin into believing that this final is all about them and their history-chasing squad.

The heavy defeat in last year’s All-Ireland semi-final has helped in that regard but, in reality, Tyrone believe that last month’s close call against Dublin in Omagh represents a much more accurate assessment of the rivalry.

They are convinced that they have more to give and see this as the ideal opportunity to produce a shock.

The odds say it’s highly unlikely to happen, but then they don’t take fourin-a-row pressures into account. And, as Shefflin admitted, they can be pretty intense.