There is no doubt that 2014 was a stellar year for James O'Donoghue - or Hamez as he is known among the Off The Ball lads.
A key cog in the wheel as Kerry reclaimed the All-Ireland, he also capped the year off with an All-Star Footballer of the Year award.
But just under four years ago, the 24-year-old was part of an U21 team that was thrashed by Cork in the championship.
Yet 10 of that team were a core part of the Kingdom panel which won All-Ireland honours in 2014.
We had the pleasure of having O'Donoghue in studio on Off The Ball and he thought back to that low point.
"We got an absolutely almighty trouncing. But it was probably a good thing in the end because it was so bad that the only way was up. There was so much room to improve that we had to get our act together and we ended up doing it," he admitted, adding that improving physically helped that Kerry contingent with a focus on strength and conditioning.
But he also spoke about his own mental approach and how the negative fallout from a match does not affect him.
"I'm actually lucky that I forget about bad games very quickly, like straight away, which is a big thing really because if you have a bad game in a big game, it can linger. So you're better off forgetting about it," he said.
With a remove of a few months, O'Donoghue also reflected on the aftermath of All-Ireland glory.
"The whole thing was ridiculous. I wasn't working or anything. I was out of college so I could enjoy the whole thing. We were celebrating for a couple of weeks. I was in New York, Chicago, Boston with the chairman Patrick O'Sullivan and Aidan O'Mahony and a few more. We were just raising a few bob and bringing the cup over there. That was unbelievable craic. Then the All-Star trip to Boston was great. But probably the best thing was the team trip to South Africa," he said.
O'Donoghue also talked about getting a new job, his approach to his positioning on the field and his progress from a shoulder injury.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
