Dublin rehearsed pre-match parade before All-Ireland final

A unique preparation tactic.

It was on Monday night that the nation started absolutely raving about RTÉ's Blues Sisters documentary. The All-Ireland winners let cameras into their camp as they went on to end their barren spell and eventually lifted the Brendan Martin Cup. It was Dublin's first victory since 2010 after having lost three finals on the trot to Cork but 2017 was going to be their year. The documentary showed the hard work, dedication and commitment that the ladies team put into 2017 and was a real eye-opener getting such behind closed doors access. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/935426351749849089 You were able to see the training, you were able to see the blood, sweat and tears but you also got to see how Dublin prepared for All-Ireland week. They all met up the morning of the final and relaxed together, they all sang Dog Days Are Over in the dressing room after winning the title together but interestingly, they all rehearsed the All-Ireland parade and national anthem together too. Dublin analyst Seaghan Kearney was speaking on the documentary and said that it to give the players a feel of what All-Ireland Sunday was going to entail:

“It’s a week out from our big day, so, we just do a run through so they get a feel of what it’s like and how long that takes and if there is something they need to do to occupy themselves or get themselves ready mentally. "There are no surprises and everything as much as possible next week is carefully planned."

It's not something that most counties have admitted to doing but it certainly did Dublin no harm as the players were mentally prepared for what was ahead of them in Croke Park on that fateful day. One All-Ireland winner in the form of Galway's Gearoid McInerney said that the Tribesmen did not follow suit to the Dublin footballers but there certainly was a discussion about it:

"We didn’t do anything like that," the 2017 All-Star admitted "I’d say the lads had their homework done for us not to even be thinking about it. They knew we’d be standing for the National Anthem for five minutes, so we need to do X, Y, Z before and after that. It’s not something we really did. “You know what you’re doing before the match. You’d have it all set out, what drills and everything you’d be doing and I suppose they’d have the parade pencilled into it, maybe you need to do a few shuttle runs before or after. We never did the practice parade, but I can see how beneficial it would be so you know what you’re doing on the day.”

It's an interesting approach taken by Dublin and maybe, just maybe, other finalists will start copying their methods. You can watch the full documentary on the RTÉ Player here. Coca-Cola is proud to support Irish road safety by rewarding Designated Drivers who give the Gift of a Lift with two FREE drinks from Coca-Cola. Designated drivers are encouraged to claim their Coca-Cola Designated Driver vouchers for two free soft drinks at participating outlets via Free Text or on www.designateddriver.ie.