Tomás Quinn: The venue may change but Dublin's process remains the same

Three weeks ago today, Laois got their 2016 championship underway. At home in O’Moore Park against Wicklow, they stuttered to a 3-16 to 0-18 win, and afterwards midfielder John O’Loughlin was interviewed on the pitch by Newstalk’s Colm Parkinson.

Laois had conceded 18 points to Wicklow following one of the worst defensive records across all four leagues and relegation to Division 3. Asked what was wrong, O’Loughlin - whose individual display was one of the main reasons his side didn’t suffer an opening day defeat - was as honest off the field as he is on it: “I don’t know.” This wasn’t a standard prepared answer, dodging the question, this was a player giving a rare realistic assessment as to where his team stood.

While he didn’t know the answer, he quickly acknowledged their performance wouldn’t be near good enough against Dublin, which only highlights how daunting a task face this Laois team this evening in Nowlan Park.