Farrell on Cluxton: 'It was like rolling back the clock'

When the story of Dublin's 2023 All-Ireland win is told, it will likely begin with an urgent meeting on the fringes of a hotel dancefloor in the small hours of the night at James McCarthy's wedding party.

The story will likely be recounted via written word rather than the medium of Netflix or what-have-you - the Dubs haven't gone in for the fly-on-the-wall stuff since Pillar's days in charge.

There was an unusually wistful air around Croker in the aftermath of this, Dublin's seventh All-Ireland win in nine years.

During the peak Jim Gavin years in the latter part of the last decade, there was a fairly businesslike feel to Dublin's remorseless victories, the manager at the time very much taking the lead in conveying that. Back in those days, there was no end in sight to Dublin's dominance.

In stark contrast, there was a nearly valedictory feel to yesterday's victory.

Without anticipating the next few months, the vibe of the evening was less 'Empire Strikes Back' and more 'Empire just wanted to have one more conquest for the road'.

It was at McCarthy's wedding last Christmas, with the Dublin football family gathered, that they decided to "get a few lads back" as the groom/ team captain put it.

"We were ferociously disappointed the last two seasons. They hurt. They really did hurt," the nine-times blessed midfielder said on Sunday.

"But we gathered at the start of the year. We'd a bit of a chat at the wedding and we said we'd try and get a few boys back.

"And they made a big difference as well."

Most of the clamour focused on the two vaunted members of the 1993 brigade - the crop of players born that year who had propelled much of Dublin's success in the 2010s.

Paul Mannion, badly missed in the 2022 campaign, was the least surprising