For half-forward Brian Looney, a defeat that Saturday in Limerick would have made it incredibly difficult to go back to the well.

Today’s Mullinalaghta meeting will be his seventh All-Ireland club semi-final. Ask the 31-year old to pick the standouts and he settles on two — with contrasting emotions.

“That was a big game against Corofin two years ago. We went in as slight underdogs but produced one of our best performances in recent memory,” recalls Looney.

“You lose that game and it is four All-Ireland semi-final defeats in-a-row, following on from 2012, 2013 and 2014. And you’d wonder if we had lost, would we be here right now.

“We’ve had a lot of success, but the older generation of this team, myself included, have lost a lot of big games. There was the 2007 All-Ireland final, there were the three county finals we lost before we won one. You learn from that. It builds character, it questions character, what are fellas made of, are they willing to come back and go again. Those losses certainly did that.

But if we had lost to Corofin, that would have been four-in-a-row, it would have been very difficult to come again. You’d like to think we would have done so, but thankfully, we are here and we are talking hypothetically.

The second semi-final he recalls is the 2013 reverse to Ballymun. The relevance of this is the warning it provides and how provincial club champions can hold a misplaced sense of confidence when returning to competitive fare after two and a half months kicking their heels.

“We thought we were in a good position, but we came up against a team that absolutely blew us out of the way. We only lost by four, but that reflected better on us than Ballymun. It was a real learning curve.”

Six years on, and even with an All-Ireland club title under their belt, it remains a challenge to accurately gauge the temperature during the long lay-off between provincial decider and All-Ireland semi.

“At the end of last year, you are building momentum with each game, so you can say fairly categorically where you are at. It is 12 weeks now since the Munster final, so it is very difficult to say exactly where you are. You have just got to trust the process, trust in that, given we have been here before, have trained through this period and hopefully, learned from what has gone well and what hasn’t gone well.

“Management is doing everything they can to make sure we are in the best possible place. Again, you could be in a really good place, but if you don’t turn up or a few things go against you on the day, which is just one day after 12 weeks of no championship match, it could be gone from you like that.”

Defender Payne admits that having four East Kerry games during the month of December was a welcome run, shortening their wait for today’s clash with the Longford and Leinster champions.

“There have been a few times where we have had a big long focus and trying to keep your eye on the ball for a long time is not as easy, so, I suppose, it has been better this time,” he said.

Payne is part of a Crokes rearguard which conceded an average of 1-9 during their stroll through Munster. He and his defensive colleagues are expecting a thorough examination at Semple Stadium.

“I don’t think it is going to be as easy as people are making out. I don’t think they’re going to let us do what everyone is saying. Our focus is good, every fella seems to have upped it since we came back.” Where Looney is looking to secure a seventh run out at GAA HQ, Payne would dearly love to double his Croke Park appearance figure of one.

“I would be looking to get back to Croke Park. Now, you wouldn’t be looking over Mullinalaghta, you’d be looking, kinda, to get through them. If you win this semi-final, Croke Park is where you are going. That is my big motivation.

2017 was my first time playing in Croke Park. To get back there to play in Croke Park for a second time would be brilliant. The buzz around Beaufort and Kilcummin ahead of their All-Ireland finals was something else. Everyone wants to play there. I am no different.