The Connacht county bowed out of the All-Ireland title race at the end of June with a round-three qualifier loss to Kildare, having spent six years banging on the glass ceiling of the championship’s closing stages. Word spread in the following weeks that three of Rochford’s backroom team — Donie Buckley, Tony McEntee and Peter Burke — would be stepping away, while the main man has now told the county executive he will remain in the role.

“Stephen has done some great work,” said Doherty. “We have developed our game and new selectors coming on board will bring in new ideas and, as a player, you look forward to that, the anticipation of who will be in and, as a player, it makes you look at yourself.

“One thing that Stephen has brought in is that nobody is safe, whether you are there 15 years or six months. He constantly challenges you to question your own game. You can’t rest on stuff you have done in the past. You have to be showing up on the Tuesday and the Friday before the game. He picks teams to meet the opposition as well.”

If there is a silver lining to their earlier-than-usual exit this summer it could be in the time and space it has given players to breathe. Some have gone travelling. Doherty didn’t join up with his club Burrishoole again until last Friday. He has allowed himself to experience ‘normal’, everyday life outside of football again, meeting up with old college friends, going along to the hurling semi-finals, attending family and friends’ functions and even trying out tag rugby and yoga.

“It is definitely a great opportunity for us re-energise. New faces [will come in] all over the panel and, if anything, we can start 2019 with possibly fewer lads catching up with injuries and operations,” he said. “We’ll get everything done a bit earlier and we can hit the ground running, because we will need a big league and get a bit of consistency going.”

Doherty has heard nothing about retirements and is taking that as a sign that the likes of Andy Moran and David Clarke will be committing to another campaign which, he fully expects, will begin with Dublin chasing a five-in-a-row. It’s not that he doesn’t think Tyrone can and will raise their game in the All-Ireland final. It’s just that, like most of us, he can’t see any combination of factors that add up to a Dublin defeat.

No side has come closer than Mayo to downing Dublin since 2014, taking Jim Gavin’s team to replays twice in three meetings and always pushing them every step of the way. The obvious question is, how?

Doherty touched on a number of factors: Going toe-to-toe with an attacking brand of football, balanced by numbers in defence when required, momentum generated through the summer and individual talent.

“It’s been very 50-50 and come down to kicks at the end of the day,” he said.

Onlookers in 30 counties would gladly settle for that again this year.