Caffrey feels Dublin are playing without the pressure that hung over them last year

Dublin's Bernard Brogan celebrates with former manager Paul Caffrey and Dave Billings after the 2011 All Ireland SFC final. INPHO

The quest for an historic five-in-a-row of All-Ireland SFC titles put huge pressure on Dublin in 2019 and Pillar Caffrey feels they look like a fresher side now that the milestone has been reached.

It had never been achieved before and the drama that surrounded Kerry’s failed attempt to achieve five-in-a-row in the 1982 final, meant that Dublin were under intense scrutiny last season.

It took a replayed final win over Kerry to reach the Holy Grail and former manager Paul Caffrey believes Dublin look much fresher now that the weight of achieving that goal is off them.

"Last year I do think there was a lot of pressure on the camp," Caffrey told RTE’s Game On.

"They said it (the five-in-a-row) wasn't spoken about but it had to be in the background of their every waking moment – could they create history? When they did it must have been a huge relief.”