Dublin’s 2017 training schedule is a real eye opener

They just get better.

When you look at Dublin it is like watching a machine, everyone attacks as one, everyone defends at one and everyone covers each other. Con O'Callaghan said last week that the reason he attacked into the full forward line for the opening goal in the All-Ireland final was that he knew the full forwards and half forwards were interchangeable, they are all so well drilled. Dublin can attack and then go into a blanket defence just as quick, fit as a fiddle some would say. In that regard, they are a class apart. You think about the miles run, the weights lifted and the strict diets to get to that point and then you look at the intricacies of managing energy levels and not peaking too early. This year Dublin started off a little slower, the league saw draws against Tyrone, Kerry and Donegal with a defeat in the final to Kerry snapping their unbeaten streak. This wasn't the same Dublin as years previously, they weren't blowing teams away like they used to and suddenly there was a belief that the standard was dropping. The championship came around and Dublin progressively got better, they weren't great against Carlow and improved from there with the semi-final against Tyrone looking like they were at the peak of their powers.

"Last year we started out training a little later than previous years because we went on the team holiday after Christmas so that means we didn’t get back training until mid-January and within the space of a week or two weeks the league was starting so we didn’t get a chance to do that pre season stuff that we wanted to get done so throughout the league we were probably a little bit behind where other teams are," Cian O'Sullivan told SportsJOE at the launch of the #AllIrelandSmiles campaign for Sensodyne and Corsodyl. "I guess the most important thing is being ready for championship and the most important thing was to get in the training blocks we needed to get up to the match fitness level that we needed. "The guys would have pinpointed at the start of the year this is where we want to be on X date and that’s what teams are doing, that’s the level of strength and conditioning and preparations teams are going into."

Former Dublin captain Bryan Cullen has been working with the team in an age where strength and conditioning is at the forefront of GAA and O'Sullivan had nothing short of praise for the Skerries Harps man: "We’ve a great strength and conditioning coach in Bryan Cullen. "A lot of the players would have played with him over the years, he went off and did his PhD and worked with Leinster for a couple of years, he’s up to speed on all the latest developments in strength and condition and I think if you probably look at how guys were performing in the gym and then how they are performing on the pitch and even injuries and that we didn’t have many bad injuries this year which I think is a testament to the great work that he did with the team. "You want to be playing your best football in September. Going into the finals there we were probably at our peak levels and being involved in campaigns previously where we were probably at our peak fitness coming into the end of the league…there’s only one place to go at that point and that’s down. "There’s a lot more to playing really well than being fit, so much of the game comes down to your mental attitudes and your preparations. "There’s not much between the teams and it comes down to little things like how well you prepare and how well you know the opposition and how well you know to play your own system," O'Sullivan said.

Dublin’s Cian O’Sullivan and Kerry’s Paul Geaney were on hand today to launch the #AllIrelandSmiles campaign for Sensodyne and Corsodyl.

With October being the smiliest month of the year, Sensodyne and Corsodyl have teamed up to find out which county is the smiliest county in Ireland and to offer one lucky participant a chance to win €5,000. To enter, participants have to upload a selfie showing off their smile to social media using #AllIrelandSmiles and tell us what they love about their county and why.