These are the weekends that players come into their own. We talk about every game as if it’s a big game but the honest truth of it is that all players know when they’re going to have to answer the call properly. Kerry did what they had to do on Sunday against Clare but they know it was still really just shadow boxing. We all know that.

Different story this weekend.

This is full-contact stuff now. Mayo and Tyrone, Donegal and Dublin. In each of these counties this week, players are counting down the days and thinking about nothing but Saturday. They’re checking off the things they need to have taken care of before throw-in. They won’t get any fitter, they won’t get any stronger. All they can improve between now and Saturday is mindset and attitude.

I used to find these weeks demanding but interesting at the same time. I liked to get a bit of alone time to think about what I needed to bring. What could I improve? What was I happy with? What was I not happy with? Who would I be up against and what had they to offer?

The trap you can fall into is doing the same thing before every game because it has worked before. You might have had a stormer the last day so you say to yourself, “Well, I got my preparation right that time around so there’s no reason to change anything.” The problem with that is that if you bring the same thing you did the last day, the guy playing against you has nothing new to worry about. Sounds simple but it took me a long time to realise it.

Advice

I used to ring Maurice Fitzgerald for advice before games. Even when I had been playing well enough, he was good to talk to. Maurice wasn’t just one of the best players Kerry ever had, he was one of the best winners. “Come here to me,” he said one time. “What you should be doing now is throwing a surprise at them the next day. What don’t they expect from you? They think you’re dangerous at kickouts, they think you’re physical and that you will cover for the defence. But they’re not worried about you going forward and kicking points against them. That’s what you should surprise them with. Go out and take it to them, make a burst and kick a few points.”

I know. Telling a footballer to go and kick a point – it’s probably not the biggest tactical innovation you’ve ever heard of. But maybe that just shows it was something lacking in my game that had to be put right. I went out and kicked a point in the first half and another in the second. And in fairness to Maurice, I could see it had an effect on the other crowd.

They were shouting at each other about who was supposed to pick up that run or cover that space. It was as though they were thinking, “Hang on now – this wasn’t in the slide show we got the other night. I didn’t read this on the hand-out.” It’s only a small thing but every All-Ireland comes down to small things. Now is the time to start rolling them out.

If you’re a Mayo player this week, you have to be getting into the state of mind that says these Tyrone lads are going to be put in their place. Everybody’s raving about Tyrone but if I was Aidan O’Shea or Colm Boyle or Lee Keegan or these guys, I’d be saying to myself, “What have they actually done? Is it anything compared to what we’ve done?”

Mayo have to walk into Croke Park with their chests out. All that has gone before is in the past. Their job was to get back to Croke Park; here they are. They haven’t played amazing stuff to get here but so what? Who has?

Mayo potential

These Mayo guys have hit their potential in Croke Park before and on the days they did, they either had a big win or it took a serious team to beat them. If I was in that Mayo squad this week, I’d be reinforcing the point – Tyrone might be very good in the future but they’ve proven nothing yet. I’d be making sure they were doing the worrying in the build-up rather than vice-versa.

That doesn’t mean you go in cocky but it does mean you take advantage of your comfort level at this stage of the competition. It means that the five or six of you who have had big performances in Croke Park in the past go around setting the tone.

If you’re Cillian O’Connor, you’re guaranteeing your frees are in good shape and spreading that confidence around the rest of the team. If you’re Aidan O’Shea, you’re throwing off the shackles and reminding people the last time you played against a blanket defence in Croke Park, you bullied Neil McGee and banged home a goal.

Mayo’s big plus point is experience – now is the time to use it. As well as that, I think that on a basic level, there’s more football in the Mayo team than there is in Tyrone. It’s a matter of showing it on the day. That’s down to mindset, plain and simple.

Tyrone are bit different this year than other years. They’re landing into Croke Park with people talking them up. Nobody has a beef with them. Nobody’s calling them cynical, nobody’s looking for a rule to be changed because of them. People actually like them in 2016.

It doesn’t suit Tyrone to be liked. It’s damn hard to build a siege mentality when everybody thinks you’re pretty good. I saw fellas in Kerry saying they were delighted to see Mickey Harte win an Ulster title after so long without one. He won’t like hearing that! Tyrone fatten on controversy and there’s none so far this year.

Tyrone momentum

What Tyrone have, firstly, is momentum. I imagine they buzzed when they landed back in to training after the Ulster final. The mood would have been off the charts. If their quarter-final had been the following weekend, they’d have walked it. They’ve come through a test against Cavan and a test against Donegal – now they’re mad for another one. They’ll land in Croke Park on Saturday saying, “Bring it on.”

The other thing they have is Mickey Harte. Mickey has always had a plan for big games. I would expect him to go after Mayo’s half-back line, the place where they are strongest. I’d expect them to frustrate Boyle and Keegan any time they go to make a run forward. You saw how they shut down Ryan McHugh in the second half of the Ulster final by eventually putting a man-marker on him.

Tyrone come with a plan and they change on the hoof when it’s needed. Not every team can do that. Realistically, from the outside looking, I think that might tip the balance their way. Mayo can win if they turn up like they have turned up before. But I’d lean towards Tyrone to find a way around them.

Donegal confidence

As for Dublin v Donegal, you have the one team who are better than everybody else coming up against the one team that totally believe they can beat them. It doesn’t matter a damn what the rest of us think or say, Donegal are full sure they can take the Dubs down. That’s powerful fuel on a week like this.

I don't think they can do it. It looks different to 2014 in that Neil Gallagher isn't lording things in midfield and Frank McGlynn is a step or two slower than he was. Michael Murphy is like a fella who is being asked to cook the steaks and wash the dishes at the same time.

But what I think doesn’t matter in the slightest. I won’t be on the pitch. They will. And they’ll go out there knowing that they beat them two years ago and came damn close to beating them in 2011. And Donegal are good when they have homework to do. They take delight in bursting other teams’ bubbles. That’s a great attitude to be taking out onto this kind of stage with you.

Not alone that but it’s not out of the question that Dublin can be got at. If they can give Murphy a break and keep him near goal, he won’t have Rory O’Carroll to deal with. Of all the Dublin defenders, O’Carroll was always the one you never saw looking for a piece of the action up at the other end of the pitch.

Philly McMahon and Jonny Cooper like to remind people they can play a bit of ball every once in a while – O'Carroll never bothered with any of that. He stayed at home and minded the house, a pure defender. Murphy could do serious damage without him there.

I still think though that Donegal are a few bodies short. I go back to them having to put Anthony Thompson back on after taking him off in the Ulster final. He’s a good solid player but it’s not like he’s Peter Canavan, a player you need to have on the pitch at the end. Without the depth of squad to win the ball around the middle, there is always the danger that Murphy could go and stand on the edge of the square and find himself going 10 or 15 minutes without seeing the ball. That’s not going to get the job done.

Dublin mindset

And if you’re looking for attitude and mindset, Dublin have that part of the game taken care of too. There’s no denying the loss of O’Carroll and Jack McCaffrey is going to be felt from this point on – and if they’re missing James McCarthy too, then we can’t say they’re as good as they were last year. But they don’t need to have everybody on board to go out with the right attitude.

Dublin are turning up on Saturday saying, “This is our turf, what are you going to do about it?” Not only that, they owe Donegal from two years ago. Jim Gavin will be saying it’s not about revenge but I wouldn’t want to be in a dressingroom with a player who didn’t use that defeat as motivation. I’d think there was something odd about him.

No, Dublin will be going there looking to make a few of those Donegal lads head away up home reminiscing about the good times they used to have and maybe thinking enough’s enough. I expect them to come through with a good bit to spare.