By Cian O'Connell

It was another Dublin year stuffed with victories and silverware, but for Cian O'Sullivan the memories matter just as much.

When asked what was the most satisfying part of the campaign O'Sullivan offers an honest response. "Obviously winning the All-Ireland," O'Sullivan says.

"Some of the softer moments, the journey that the team has been on the past number of years. A core group of boys who have been there. Very tight bond within the squad. We’d a few moments over the season.

"One in particular - we loaded up a bus and went up the Dublin mountains, had a barbeque up there at a pub. Just stayed there for the night. Had a couple of drinks, bit of a sing song. That was a stand out moment for me. We had a great time."

On the eve of the Championship that was an evening that is still fondly recalled by the Dublin panel. "Before Championship, we had a gap. The Blue Light. We didn’t stay over. Those kind of opportunities are few and far between where it’s just the team and the backroom team.

"There are plans for a holiday, haven’t nailed down where or when."

After Dublin defeated Mayo in a thriller All Ireland SFC Final replay O'Sullivan recalls it being a 'special night' also. "Night of the All-Ireland is a real special night," O'Sullivan admits.

"You’re at this massive banquet where you’ve sponsors and family and friends. The public can buy tickets if they want so there is a lot of people in the one room.

"You don’t get that much opportunity to celebrate the moment with the team. You do in Croke Park and on the pitch. When you get those chances to have a few quiet beers with the lads, it’s great."

With Jack McCaffrey expected to return to the Dublin panel O'Sullivan acknowledges that there will be significant pressure to perform to a high level once more. “It’s everyone, nobody is safe, definitely. There is such great competition within the squad.

"Add Jack McCaffrey into the fold and there’s even more competition. There are a few guys from our under 21 team that will probably make the step up next year as well.

"That’s what you want. It might cause him a few headaches selecting the team, but they’re the type of headaches you want.

"We need that if we have any aspirations of going on to play well to contest for trophies.

"We need that kind of environment and training sessions when we’re bringing out the best in each other. That’s a product of guys putting their hands and names into the hat."

Dublin's unbeaten Allianz Football League and Championship record now stands at 29 matches, but it isn't something O'Sullivan is dwelling too much on.

"Firstly, I’m not conscious that we were 29 games unbeaten. I was chatting to a few of the lads earlier and we were remarking that there was a lot of talk post-game of two-in-a-row and I completely forgot we were going for two-in-a-row.

"That was something we never referenced through the year or focused on. Just the same way next year we’ll never talk about three-in-a-row so you kind of forget about these things.

"I know it’s a cliché that you go out to give your best performance and take it one game at a time, but it’s a cliché for a reason. That’s how it literally works."

How Dublin overcame Kerry and Mayo in gripping encounters suggests a real strength in winning tense matches. “I suppose the humility there with the success that we've got, not allowing ourselves to be complacent with it.

"Fortunately for us, we've been through a lot of tight battles in recent years and that definitely stands to you. There's no substitute for experience.

"You can talk about, you can sit up the front of a team meeting with flip charts and say, 'With 10 minutes to go this is the scenario, we do x', until you actually experience that, the heat of the fire, there's no substitute for that experience in how to deal with that situation and, fortunately for us, we do have experience for us and there's a core group of lads that have gone through games like that and have been able to draw on that experience in recent years."