CONNOR McAliskey sees no reason why a Division Two team can't challenge for the All-Ireland this year.
He's hoping Sunday's NFL Division Two final will be the first of many Croke Park appearances for Tyrone, and that they'll be back at GAA Headquarters in September.
But first, the Red Hands need to arrest a dip in form and deliver a compelling performance against Ulster rivals Cavan.
"We have got a very young team, and maybe Division Two was what we needed to let the boys gel, let the new boys come in and get a bit of confidence in their game," said McAliskey
"I don't see any difference from last year, when we were able to do it against Kerry, and we pushed them hard for 65 minutes, so I don't see why not.
"And if we get back to Croke Park, then anything can happen, as we showed last year. The Kerry game could easily have been a different result and we could have been in the All-Ireland final."
But a gulf appears to have opened up between the big two and the rest, with Dublin and Kerry expected by most observers to battle it out for the Sam Maguire Cup.
Tyrone were in the shake-up last year, and McAliskey expects them to demand their say in the destination of the famous trophy once again in 2016.
"It's football, and anything can happen on any day. I fully believe that if it comes to September, and we're up against any of those teams, Kerry or Dublin, we'll be up there matching them toe for toe.
"And if we get back to Croke Park, then anything can happen, as we showed last year. the Kerry game could easily have been a different result and we could have been in the All-Ireland final.
"After Sunday, we'll set our sights on Celtic Park and we'll just take it game by game, just try and win every game and take the shortest route possible back to Croke Park."
Tyrone's return to Division One was confirmed many weeks ago, but corner forward McAliskey wants more than promotion to show for their league campaign.
He feels it's important that the Red Hands return t the top tier as champions, and give their supporters something to savour on Sunday afternoon.
"Definitely. We started out at the start of the year and our aim was promotion. We wanted to get the first couple of wins under our belt to put us in a good place to push on.
"When we got promoted, we had two games left, and we got two draws out of those games and we would have been looking to win them.
"We were lucky on both occasions to get a draw out of them, so it was good that we didn't get beaten, and kept our unbeaten run going.
"But now we're into a final, there's a cup up for grabs and we'll definitely be pushing hard to take the cup back with us and go into Division One as champions of Division Two."
Form is a concern for the Red Hands as they prepare to take on a Cavan side performing with flair and confidence.
Tyrone completed their Division Two schedule on a flat note, with draws against Armagh and Fermanagh, both of whom were fighting to avoid relegation.
But Mickey Harte and his players have carried out an in-depth assessment of the reasons for the dip, and of what they need to do to find a way out of it.
"We have looked at it ourselves, and maybe we weren't hungry enough, and that shouldn't have been the case.
"We should have been pushing on and getting the wins. We're a good enough team to be beating both those teams, but they had something more to play for than us, and maybe that showed in our performances, because we didn't up our game.
"It was a mini-Ulster league in Division Two, and Cavan s another Ulster derby, and we need to get ourselves more motivated for Sunday."
While Tyrone were finding motivation difficult to come by in the latter stages of the Division Two campaign, Cavan were scaling the heights with a late surge for promotion.
Manager Terry Hyland was at the heart of a golden era at U21 level, and now he is beginning to reap the rewards with his blossoming senior side.
"They were the opposite to us. We dipped a wee bit at the end of the league and they pushed on and came in very strong," said McAliskey.
"But it's up to us now to try and match that. Cavan have been coming well and they showed that at the start of the year when there was only a point in it up at Healy Park. It's going to be a big ask and a tough game to beat them on Sunday".
