There’s no such thing as small talk with Dublin.

The very mention of the county’s senior footballers escalates discussions into a different realm and onto a bigger stage, whether it is the debate on their residence in Croke Park, their resources or even their style of play.

Emotions tend to fray, perspective can be lost.

The players themselves, as with Jim Gavin, seem immune from it all. The All-Ireland champions continue to play dumb to the noises that surround them. A machine for all seasons. Unrelenting. Uninvolved. At the heart of it all and yet removed.

John Small knows the drill. On the pitch and off it.

A sub on the side that claimed Sam Maguire with the defeat of Kerry in the 2015 final, he started the next two deciders and, after some earlier injury and suspensions issues, broke back onto the first 15 last weekend for the game against Tyrone in Healy Park.

Dublin secured their place in the All-Ireland semis with their one-point win in Omagh but the manner in which they have closed out the last two games, against Donegal and Mickey Harte’s side, has not gone unnoticed.

Renowned for their ability to inflict pain in the last quarter of games, the Dubs have opted for ball retention this past few weeks, protecting leads as the clock wound down. It’s a risky ploy and one Tyrone almost capitalised on.

“Yeah, we just play the game as we see it,” said Small with little in the way of enthusiasm.

“We stick to our processes and what we’re trying to do in the game. And it just transpires sometimes that we hold on to the ball.”

Facing a Dublin footballer in this sort of form can’t be all that different to approaching the 15-man blue wall they have used so frequently and so effectively to keep opponents at bay. The difference here is that there is no prospect of a counter, swift or otherwise.

Next up for Small and his buddies is the Super 8 dead rubber against Roscommon in Croke Park.

It’s the kind of non-event that seems tailor-made for Parnell Park but the mantra from the Dubs continues to be one of indifference when it comes to venues.

“We’re happy to play wherever, whether it’s Parnell Park, Croke Park, Healy Park, you know?

“We’re all just delighted to be able to represent Dublin and to go out and to perform to the best of our ability. We don’t really mind where the games are, to be honest.”

No slips. Little of interest offered. Small had already posed for the cameras in the jersey with the logo of children’s charity Aoibheann’s Pink Tie which they will wear against Roscommon. Job done so. Back to training. Back to the clichéd ‘bubble’.

Back to the business of oiling that metronomic machine.