One worried, one carefree.

Laois and Dublin didn't used to be like this.

For the challengers today, it started as a storm brewing way out at sea, gradually setting its sights on land. In 1996 came Colm Parkinson, Noel Garvin, Chris Conway, Beano McDonald and Kevin Fitzpatrick, part of a minor All Ireland-winning side that dragged Laois from the doldrums. A year on and Joe Higgins, Darren Rooney and Tom Kelly were part of the side that retained the crown.

By 2003 they were all ready.

"We knew they weren't arriving here as nobodys, coming up to give it a go, " says Senan Connell, part of the Dublin team that day. "We'd played them at underage and after all the success they had, something was set to happen. Like if you win a couple of games at minor you can put that down to chance. But two All Ireland-winning teams full of exceptional footballers? They were never going to drift away. So we were aware of what was in store, at least we thought we were."

Dublin weren't just beaten that day, they were outplayed and outthought and according to some of those on duty around the tunnel area at half-time, outfought in a scuffle that erupted as the teams headed for the dressing rooms. "There was good few boxes thrown, friendly boxes, " remembers Declan O'Loughlin, a selector with the victors that Sunday in June. "But next thing Micko comes into the dressing room after all this turbulence and he's a couple of minutes behind everyone else so has missed the entire thing. Sure doesn't he look in at all these guys after the fight and smile, 'Well lads, how did we do, did we win the row?' There was a big burst from the players and the tension was gone. I turned to him and said, 'Micko there are guys here after getting belted around the place, where were you?' He looks at me and says, 'I was over telling the referee he was the biggest b****x I ever met'.

Those types of things, whether he makes them up or not, they certainly help the adrenaline flow for the betterment of the team.

"It was the same beforehand. With the atmosphere and everything, there are times when players get nervous going out to play Dublin.

And because of Micko there was the hype around Laois that none of these guys would have ever seen in their lives.

So there may have been tension. Not from the manager though, and in his Kerry drawl he says, 'Jaysus I love playing the Dubs in Croke Park, it's the best thing about the GAA'. It broke the tension for the players. If you had at the back of your mind a fear of playing them or a hatred of playing them it would soften it without a doubt."

It worked and a bunch of Laois minors, who many said would waste away, finally grew up. With 15 minutes to go Munnelly, Michael Lawlor and Damien Delaney swung over three points from all angles and Laois were five up. Dublin grafted their way back, but when Padraic Clancy decided to send one to the heavens, and saw it drop over, everyone knew this was the start of something great. At least it should have been.

Laois returned to the Leinster final the year after, and the year after that. The first one hurt against Westmeath. The second one, against Dublin, maimed a team fighting to take over a province.

"It was our fourth Leinster final, if you count the replay, in three years . . . and we should have beaten Westmeath and might have won against Dublin in 2005, " says Ian Fitzpatrick, one of the cornerforward from those encounters. "Before Micko I guess it's fair to say we were brutal and never won anything, so a huge amount of credit must go to him. Everything had been moving forward until that defeat to Westmeath the previous year, when we should have won the first game and the replay and that was a big knock. I remember in the replay they didn't score for a ridiculous amount of time and still won the game. But this was the chance to make up for it and I think in a lot of players' minds we had to take it. But the finish was gutting for all of us. We went ahead in the dying minutes and Mossy Quinn steps up and puts over a couple of dead balls from way out and it's gone from us.

"You have to understand, for a side like Laois you just cannot do that. I walked away as an inter-county player thinking I should have won more as a Laois senior footballer in that time. Like, other than a player here and there, it's been the same side throughout that has been together and knocking on a door and it's full of really good players and it's a team that really needs to win a second Leinster because of the quality and the near-misses."

For those from Laois you might want to skip this paragraph. It's the one that talks about last year's semi-final, one that finally settled a bet, won an argument, whatever you're having yourself.

Dublin 3-17 Laois 0-12.

Micko and company were beaten out the gate and down Jones' Road.

"It was a hiding alright, there's no doubt about that, " says O'Loughlin "Things didn't go right, and sure everyone was up saying that's the end of this Laois side, this was the knockout blow. It could easily have been if the whole panel let it be but they knew . . . and still know . . . there is very little between them and Dublin. It's why they went out a few days later and beat All Ireland champions Tyrone. It's why they beat Offaly and Meath.

And I know losing out to Mayo hurt an awful lot because those guys wanted to play Dublin in an All Ireland semifinal and show what had happened a few months later was a once-off. They didn't get their chance then and they've had to wait but here it is at last. We have the best minor team we've ever had at the minute, we are Leinster under-21 champions too, so things are healthy but this particular bunch do need another title at senior or otherwise they'll have underachieved."

There may have been little between them but if Caffrey's side retain their title, history will say Dublin were the dominant force. Laois are about to be run out of town. Today they're in the last-chance saloon.