As Dublin look to end their decade of football dominance with a fifth All-Ireland title in a row, its interesting to look back at how the decade began with a similar tilt at immortality.

Nine years ago, Lar Corbett’s tour de force earned Tipperary a first Liam MacCarthy since 2001 and denied Kilkenny’s own drive for five. Coupled with Tipp’s winning of the U21 All-Ireland a week later, it was seen as a changing of the guard, with the Premier County backed to dominate for the coming years.

It’s a common trap of punditry – three years on, Clare would be similarly feted as the coming force – but it ignored the fact that the 2010 final was the first championship game Kilkenny had lost since the 2005 semi-final and the fact that, by that stage, Brian Cody had already shown himself to be capable of moving and changing with the times.

Kilkenny, not Tipp, would claim four of the next five All-Irelands after that, though in 2016 they would be denied a three-in-a-row by their neighbours. That brought more epitaphs and, for once, they looked like they might be accurate when, in 2017 and 2018, Kilkenny missed two straight finals for the first time in Cody’s 20 year tenure.

When they lost to Galway in Leinster in Nowlan Park back in June, it looked like that might be become three straight finals without the Cats’ presence, but we should have known better.

Opposing Cody in that 2010 final was Liam Sheedy, who had put the lessons of the 2009 decider defeat to good use. That game proved to be a perfect send-off for him but, with just one title in the eight years that followed, he was back this year, eager to help a group of players with whom he has a special bond.

In the past, we have seen managers return only to find that the game has left them behind; that’s not the case with Sheedy. Like Cody, he keeps pace with modern developments and, in the view of Wexford star Jack O’Connor, it’s why Sunday’s final is between teams guided by the two old stagers.

The Model County have played both of the finalists, drawing with Kilkenny in the Leinster round-robin before beating them in the provincial final, while they came agonisingly close to overcoming Tipp in the All-Ireland semi.

“Every so often, you’d hear people say that Brian Cody has been there too long, but they’ve changed so much, they play in a way that really suits them now,” O’Connor says.

“They work the ball better in the backs, fellas don’t just hit it away blindly and the variety in their game is excellent.

“As the game has evolved, Liam Sheedy and him [Cody] have both kept up with it and Tipp and Kilkenny are at the forefront of how the game should be played.

“They’re always adapting and that’s what has them where they are.”

O’Connor isn’t surprised that Sheedy has been able to have Tipp challenging immediately after his return.

“At the start of the year, they were really flying, they had their mojo back compared to last year,” according to the Wexford forward.

“The Munster final was an off-day but we still knew that they’d be flying in the semi-final and they finished really strongly.”

However, despite having seen both finalists at close quarters, O’Connor doesn’t necessarily feel that that will give an insight into how the final goes – precisely because of how the two teams are able to change their set-up.

“It’s hard to know,” he says, “I would say that both teams played us differently compared to how they’ll play each other.

“Kilkenny stuck very tight to our forwards, whereas Tipp gave a bit more space but then swallowed the ball up when it came down the middle. You’d imagine that they’ll have looked at each other and worked out how best to approach it.”

Kilkenny are the slight outsiders, but O’Connor feels that might suit them.

“Even in Leinster, when they lost to Galway or drew with us, they were playing well and just getting caught with a few scores,” he says.

“A team might get a run on Kilkenny, but they’re never beaten. No matter what minute of the game it is or what stage of the year, they always have that freshness in them. You see it in how they operate and how they train, whoever’s in form plays.

“Even if they are underdogs, they won’t mind that. I expect a hell of a battle.”

As to what each county needs to do to win, O’Connor pinpoints defensive discipline.

“For Kilkenny, it’s important that the Tipp forwards aren’t given space,” he says. “Tipp have eight, nine, 10 guys who can shoot or score from anywhere, so they all need to be picked up.

“On the other side, TJ Reid and Colin Fennelly have both had a great year for Kilkenny. Obviously, they have other good players too but you’d imagine that Tipp will focus on those two as they’ve been causing so many problems and they bring other lads into the game.

“They’re the go-to men and the playmakers so if they can be kept under control, it should help Tipp to push on and win.”

Including the drawn 2014 decider, since 2009 Kilkenny and Tipp have met in six finals. While Kilkenny have won three, Tipp actually have the greater scoring aggregate, albeit by only five points. O’Connor can’t foresee anything but another close encounter.

“You’d imagine it will just come down to the fine margins,” he says.

“A few small inches and things happening in the moment, someone having to decide between marking their man or going to the ball.

“You can talk about tactics and everything, but these things generally boil down to the little things and it could be decided by whoever is more tuned in.”