BEN McDonnell understands the mentality of a Mayo team that will never give up until the prize is theirs.
Year after year, they bounce back from unimaginable devastation to renew their pursuit of Sam.
And here they are again, back in another All-Ireland final just a year after their latest failed attempt to get over a line that for them has proven an insurmountable barrier.
The Tyrone midfielder has played against and alongside those western warriors who have a stomach for the battle that no other Gaelic football team has ever matched.
“They’re unbelievable competitors in the way they never give up.
“We know what the Mayo players are like and how they’ll go after this,” said McDonnell.
“I have played with Paddy Durcan in college football, he played with Jordanstown for a year.
“Seeing him up close, he’s a real good operator, he’s very impressive. But it’s where we want to be, playing against Mayo.”
It’s not the final that the GAA world was expecting. The demise of Dublin and Kerry has opened the door to exciting new possibilities for both competing counties this weekend.
And Mayo will see this as their greatest opportunity to date to lay a curse that has overseen decades of misery and a litany of heart-breaking defeats.
“You see what Mayo is like in Championship football,” said McDonnell.
“They’re one of the most impressive Championship sides that you’ll see.
“They’ll see this as their big opportunity.”
Tyrone’s extra-time victory over Kerry was verging on miraculous, given the severity of the Covid-19 cases that swept through the camp in the weeks leading up to the semi-final.
With another fortnight to restore the squad to full health and fitness, the Ulster champions will be primed and ready.
“We’ll get the bodies ready and get everybody back and get it right.
“That’s where you want to be, there on All-Ireland final day, and we’ll be ready for it.”
Tyrone came close to being forced to withdraw from the All-Ireland series, and will not forget the understanding shown to them by the GAA and by Kerry in accommodating not one but two postponements of the game.
“We’re just grateful that we got the two weeks, and got boys recovered. We had a bad situation there so it was great to get that.”
McDonnell was thrown into the eye of the storm that was the chaotic closing stages of normal time, coming on as a sub against Kerry to help steer his side to victory. It was Tyrone’s effective replacements that played a huge role in sealing a massive result.
“It was big for me to get on in that game. To play Championship football in Croke Park is a dream, and it was an unbelievable feeling to get that run towards the end.
“Coming off the bench, it’s hard to get up to speed, especially against a team like the Kerry boys.
“They’re serious athletes, they’re like machines. It’s hard to get your second wind, and it was tough in that heat.”
A first win over one of the so-called ‘big three’ signalled a breakthrough for this Tyrone team, but they’ll have to follow it up with another.
“It was a big scalp for us, because we have been getting a lot of stick over the years for not taking these big scalps on the big day when it matters, the likes of the Dublins and Kerrys and Mayos.
“It’s a big one for us just to mentally get over that line.
“Everyone wrote us off and didn’t give us a chance, but just listening to the boys and the management, nothing is a lost cause.”
Massive levels of intensity went into that extra-time triumph over the Kingdom, and they’ll need more of the same against a Mayo side that operates with a similar high octane approach.
“The work that these boys have put in, and the legs that they have, the likes of Conor Meyler, I’d say his GPS was through the roof.
“I had full faith in those boys, and we had fresh legs coming on, the likes of Liam Rafferty and Darragh Canavan, it was amazing.
“I had full confidence, full faith in them, and when you looked at the Kerry team David Clifford was away off injured, and David Moran off as well.
“Some of their best players were away, so we knew that we could do it.”
