THERE are certain stock standard statements you come to expect when talking to recently-retired county players. Foremost among them is their longing to be out soldiering alongside ex-comrades when the big Championship days come around.
The first summer spent watching from the stands instead of being front and centre as the spectacle unfolds is often the most trying.
Kicking every ball, cursing every wide, feeling the thud of every tackle, still glorying in victory and, when the time comes, sharing the unmistakeable pain of defeat. It’s all part of the uneasy transition from player to outside observer.
Paul Finlay was in the BBC commentary box at the Athletic Grounds the night Down shocked Monaghan in the Ulster Championship, enduring every emotion along the way.
For some games, though, it is easier to assume a watching brief.
Ten months after hanging up his boots, the bang and clatter of provincial competition pulls at Finlay’s gut more than the prospect of going into the lion’s den against the Dubs.
The Farneymen step into the Croke Park cauldron to face the All-Ireland champions tomorrow - a week after taking revenge on the Mournemen – and, for one day only, Finlay won’t miss what he left behind.
“I’d love to be 25 or 26 again because that’s what you’d need to be to have a real go,” he admits. “I wouldn’t like to be going in there at 34 because it’s no place for old men.”
Of the 15 that started against Down last weekend, only Darren Hughes at 30 has pushed beyond his twenties in a team with an average age of 26. Twenty-year-old Conor McCarthy and Jack McCarron, five years McCarthy’s senior, did considerable damage from the bench.
Experienced heads Vinny Corey and Dessie Mone (both 32) came on in the last 10 minutes, but this is a Monaghan team built around young legs that can keep pace with the best.
Tomorrow, they face the ultimate test.
Finlay feels the expectation that Monaghan would avenge their defeat to Down weighed on Farney shoulders in the first half of their Qualifier rematch before they eventually clicked into gear.
There are no such issues tomorrow when Dublin go in as overwhelming favourites to book a semi-final spot, and Finlay feels the form they showed in flashes last week must be on display for the full 70 minutes at Croke Park.
“Some of the play in the second half was very slick and very good to watch in terms of the forward play. They tightened up a little bit at the back and were able to kill off Down with that good spell of 10 minutes,” said the Ballybay playmaker.
“That’s the type of play they will need but the first 35-40 minutes was a bit sub-standard. They were maybe carrying that weight of expectation going into that game because Down beat them in the Ulster Championship.
“They won’t have that this weekend - they’ll be totally written off with the bookies, all the pundits and rightly so. This Dublin team just don’t look like they’re going to be easily stopped at all, but Monaghan won’t have any expectation on them.”
Still, it is hard to escape that first half last week, with boss O’Rourke admitting they have yet to hit their stride yet this summer despite making it to the last eight.
And the frailties on show in that first 35 against Down - particularly the lack of cover that left the Monaghan full-back line woefully exposed – offered major cause for concern.
They can ill-afford to be so generous when faced with Jim Gavin’s free-scoring side.
“Monaghan have a lot of work to do,” said Finlay.
“They can’t do too much physically, but they’re going to have to do a little bit of rehearsal on how they’re going to play, what everybody’s role is, and then it’s up to everybody individually to try and carry it out.
“I’m pretty sure whatever the plan was for Saturday’s game, it wasn’t going to plan defensively or out the field. It’s hard to land it at the full back line, it just wasn’t right all the over pitch, so it’s something they have to be really focused on this week – making sure everybody’s sharpened up.
“If they’re going to have any chance, they need to have that nailed down and working really well.”
There are some crumbs of comfort though.
Firstly, while the Dubs have convincingly held sway in recent Championship encounters, the same cannot be said in the League where only a late Jack McCaffrey goal gave Dublin victory at the start of April after Monaghan had been the better side for much of the game.
McCarron plundered 1-9 that day as the Farney came close to being the team that ended the Dubs’ long unbeaten run, and Finlay believes the Monaghan players can take confidence from that performance in Clones.
“The more you play a team, the more you get used to playing them and you see, when you’re in good tight games with them, that they’re not invincible.
“Monaghan really went toe-to-toe with them, so it’s about getting in their faces early, making sure they’re in the game, not letting Dublin get into the rhythm that they like, getting on top early and overpowering you for the rest of the game.
“In the first 20-30 minutes they have to keep it really tight and make sure they’re not getting opened up at the back.”
Against Down Monaghan barely contested Michael Cunningham’s kick-outs until the second half, when they made huge gains after pushing up in numbers.
This, Finlay feels, is another lesson that must be learned.
“They have to try and disrupt Cluxton’s kick-outs,” he added.
“You see with Dublin that if you give them time to build from the back, they’re just too powerful and have too many strong players to stop.”
Finlay expects two of last week’s three scoring subs – McCarron, McCarthy and Owen Duffy – to start tomorrow.
However, he knows it would be a calculated risk as the role of the bench will be vital if the game is in the balance going down the stretch.
“I don’t imagine Malachy will be able to afford the luxury of holding the guys he held in reserve last week.
“We all know what Dublin’s going to introduce for the last 20 minutes so you’d think he has to hold something for that period to come in and make a difference.
"Who knows? Hopefully the experience Monaghan have from playing in Division One and playing Dublin will give them the confidence to go and get stuck into them. You’d like to see Dublin tested, and I’d be hoping Monaghan can test them.”
