Éamonn Fitzmaurice: Dublin take care of business but they'll be a different animal come summer

Dessie Farrell and his squad will use the provincial campaign as a tune-up for knockout football.

Dublin goalkeeper Stephen Cluxton arrives before the Leinster GAA Football Senior Championship quarter-final match against Meath. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

DUBLIN are clearly using the Leinster Championship to ready themselves for the All-Ireland series and ultimately knockout football, both from a physical and personnel perspective.

Even though they won by 16 points yesterday they look as if they are undergoing a block of training at the moment. That absolute raw pace that is a central tenet of their game when they are at peak performance was absent.