All-Ireland MFC Final replay: The mind games began in earnest after the drawn minor football final at Croke Park two weeks ago.
Nothing could separate the sides as Dublin's physical superiority was offset by the attacking flair of the Laois forwards.
Now it comes down to knowing your opponents that little bit better. Dublin can bridge a 19-year gap if they hit top form while Laois have already won over the neutrals with their never-say-die attitude.
After a flowing contest the last day Dublin edged in front only to see replacement David Murphy equalise on the hour. In reality the midlands side never allowed their opponents to dominate and they always seemed to have the extra man, especially in the opening 20 minutes.
Dublin manager Ciaran O'Hare has already ensured Dr Cullen Park in Carlow will not be foreign soil for his young charges as they trained there during the week and were happy to report a clean bill of health. However, O'Hare still felt a change was necessary, or to be precise a return to the original plan.
Francis Fitzgerald returns to the full-forward line after being an absentee in the previous two games, after sustaining an ankle injury in the Leinster final. The only reason he didn't regain his place is due to the remarkable well of talent they have at their disposal.
The discarding of Conor Noone from the panel can be seen as an example of this. The Kilmacud Crokes forward was an ever present on last year's team before losing his place this year after the drawn Leinster semi-final against Louth.
Mark Vaughan, James Leahy and Ger O'Mara have all come into the starting line-up at different stages of the campaign and performed so well that returning them to the bench wasn't an option.
A similar re-shuffle of the deck occurred in the Laois camp after they were beaten in the Leinster final, by Dublin. It wasn't exactly a mass clear-out but Cahir Healy came in to good effect at corner-back while the dead-ball capabilities of Michael Tierney were employed from the outset.
More significantly, Colm Kellyof St Joseph's, was moved from midfield to centre-forward with devastating effect. In the semi-final against Kerry he was re-deployed to the edge of the square and poached the goal that effectively decided the contest.
Manager Seán Dempsey's real masterstroke was in the final when he put the pace and trickery of Donal Brennan up against the languid class of Dublin full back Kian Cleere.
Brennan kicked three points from play.
The new approach certainly posed problems for the Dublin defence yet it was the midfield combination of Brendan Quigley and Craig Rogers that stemmed their opponents' supply-lines into the forwards.
If John Coughlan and Brendan Phelan can regain the upper hand around the middle from the outset tomorrow Dublin should, finally, have enough in the tank to see them home.
LAOIS: C Gorman; C Healy, C Ryan, R Stapleton; P O'Leary, C Begley, N Donagher; B Quigley, C Rogers; C Bergin, C Kelly (St Joseph's), P McNulty; M Tierney, D Brennan, C Kelly (Stradbally).
DUBLIN: K Walsh; A Downes, K Cleere, W Lowry; D Reilly, G Brennan, I Ward; B Phelan, J Coughlan; G O'Mara, B Kennedy, M Vaughan; A Relihan, K Leahy, F Fitzgerald.
