STEPPING away from the Tyrone team will be tough enough for Sean Cavanagh. Yet he knows he must put his personal feelings aside and focus on overcoming an excellent Donegal team this Sunday.
"It's going to be a huge challenge to try to come to terms with the whole thing, if and when it does obviously happen.
"At the moment I'm trying to ignore it, you have to, because Donegal's a huge challenge, and we know that if we're not on top of our game they'll wipe us out like they've done before.
"Over the last five or six years they've had a hold over us. OK, we did crawl over the line in the Ulster Final last year but we had a reality check up in Ballybofey in the National League."
Donegal dominated that game, winning by 0-12 to 0-6, and Cavanagh admits: "That really did knock us off our stride. They have the capability of doing that, with a new team, guys that we're not all that familiar with. We're having to do a fair bit of homework at the moment."
The players may change, but Donegal often pose problems for Tyrone. Even Cavanagh on his long career has only enjoyed two Championship victories over them, in seven meetings, and four League wins out of 11 games.
He knows never to relax against Donegal: "Back in '04, with us as All-Ireland Champions, I remember playing them up in Clones [when Donegal won an Ulster semi-final by 1-11 to 0-9].
"They've always had some really talented players – go back to Devenney, the Sweeneys, Diver, that potential has always been there.
"When I started playing there was always the perception that Donegal don't take it as seriously as some of the other counties.
"You got that feel from going away on some of the Ulster trips, they're always good fun the Donegal guys, always up for a laugh, always the first men out that night after the game."
Tir Chonaill teams have been transformed, though. "Definitely [Jim] McGuinness changed all that. He made them go from one extreme to the other. They're still all good footballers, as they were, but now they're incredibly focussed and incredibly single-minded.
"I could see the change in guys that played pre-McGuinness and to the guys that play now in the post-McGuinness era. He really did change it all.
"The guys that play now for Donegal, it looks like they think of nothing else, it's their religion now. The way they've been able to compete over the past six years has definitely astounded me."
In that period, Donegal have reached every Ulster Final, winning three, and reached three All-Ireland semi-finals, winning one of the two finals they made.
"In Tyrone I believe we have an equal amount of talent to most, if not all, counties in Ireland. I equally believe that if we can perform to our abilities on Sunday, or in any other game in this Championship, we have the ability to beat the top teams. That's going to be put to the test on Sunday.
"We have to prove ourselves again. We were the hot team on a big streak last year, which was obviously grounded [by Mayo].
Tyrone were going well again in the League this year, before Donegal brought them back down to earth, a six-point defeat that was followed by further losses to Mayo and Kerry.
"We were disappointed by the way things went after the Ballybofey performance in the League. We know we have things to prove and things to do this summer. It really starts on Sunday in earnest."
The dream finale is for Cavanagh to win his fourth All-Ireland, getting back to the final for the first time since 2008.
"It's scary that thought actually," he admits. That's one thing I've thought of when taking stock. Obviously I was spoiled early in my career.
"I remember sitting in the Cusack Stand watching the Dubs-Tyrone match in '95 and then when we reached the '03 Final thinking it was a long time between finals.
"It's even longer now since we were in the final, which is disappointing for a county that, I do believe, has always had some of the best footballers in Ireland, some of the most talented. We are a big county, we have to consider ourselves like that.
"I see the talent in this squad, I saw it last year. There were guys who didn't get a kick of the ball in last year's Championship who I have no doubt will make a big impact in this year's.
"We have an incredibly strong squad at the moment, which is obviously necessary to win at the top level".
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"IN excess of 15 years' experience in the game…We're trying to capitalise on the new ways of doing things, better ways of doing things."
Sean Cavanagh could be talking about Tyrone but in fact he's referring to himself and colleagues – including his brother and team-mate Colm - in his recently-opened accountancy practice in the Moy.
Big Sean has long been a big name in the GAA; now he has his own name practice, 'Sean Cavanagh & Co.', as he explains:
"I spent 14 years with Cavanagh Kelly, my uncle was the founding member of that, now he's taken a step back…
"I've made an awful lot of good business contacts through sport over the years and it's nice to be able to work with them under my own name; I'll get a wee bit of pride out of that."
Sean brings the same commitment, professionalism, and enthusiasm to work as he has always done to Gaelic football. As the door begins to close on his inter-county career, it has opened on his new practice:
"I see it as a transitional step, that if my career does come to an end fairly quickly, football-wise, it's giving me something to really get my teeth into.
"I'm that type of an individual that thrives on challenges and that's what this has presented over the last couple of months, but I'm really enjoying that challenge."
There's plenty of experience in his new team of five, covering plenty of ground: "We offer the full gamut of accounting, audit, and tax services as well as various advisory services, tailored in a contemporary and innovative way for our clients."
"We've had a really good start, a really positive couple of months, it's going really well, thankfully."
