Mayo's brief is to relish the occasion

All Ireland SFC: As John Morrison sees it, you either wilt in the heat and noise of the Dublin football experience or you do not.

"It is a unique experience," he said yesterday morning, Laois done and dusted and the details of Sunday's glamour date with the Metropolitans already preying on his mind.

"Neither Mickey Moran nor myself found it particularly intimidating before (when they played Tommy Lyons's team in the quarter-final replay of 2002) but players have to cope with playing against a reputation and a very strong team. The Dublin support is incredible but what strikes me about it is that most of the crowd aren't that biased toward or even interested in the other team. They are there to see Dublin do their stuff. And that can put pressure on the Dublin players too.

"Even in the second half against Westmeath, when the match went off the boil, it was a strange experience sitting in the middle of it. The place went kind of quiet and there is always the worry that maybe the crowd could get a bit impatient and turn a little. And I suppose in terms of this All-Ireland semi-final, Mayo are going to be a bit of a fairytale.

"Dublin will be rank favourites to win and will have the vast majority of the support in the stadium. But we will prepare our team as usual, and our message will be to go out there and play and enjoy it."

Mayo have made it to the last four of the championship amid some harshly critical appraisal - to which the Armagh man is cheerfully indifferent. The most damning verdict has been that the Westerners are too light and flighty to cope with the demands of a beefy Dublin team that has bulked up over the winter and proven much too strong, fast and relentlessly aggressive for all championship opponents to date.

Morrison acknowledges that Dublin "look stronger and are feeling good about that".

"I know they have being doing some work with a rugby coach and certainly they have been tackling very well. Time will tell if we can cope with that.

"Without giving secrets away, the way to avoiding getting caught in the tackle is to transfer the ball at speed. But we will be expecting a hard-hitting game and we will just have to see how we cope against it."

The proximity of their All-Ireland semi-final means the Mayo management do not have much time to reflect on the enjoyable fact of being among the last three teams left in the championship.

Nor does Morrison feel they have necessarily exceeded expectation in Mayo.

"Nineteen-fifty-one" he sighs, referring to the magical date when the Westerners last claimed the championship. "We set out certain goals for ourselves. We didn't place much store in the league but we felt winning Connacht was achievable. And after doing that, the next step is an All-Ireland, really. A lot of it comes down to how the players feel now.

"Belief is the common phrase used, but that is a wee bit catch-all. I have no concerns about playing again just a week later and am happy enough they can finish strongly. I thought the team was fairly calm when it mattered the last day against Laois."

As for the old chestnut about the role of Ciarán McDonald, Morrison reckons the debate about his best position will last as long as the Crossmolina man plays for Mayo. He is adamant McDonald is operating as the management have asked him to, adding that he specifically responded to particular goals Morrison identified for each of the team on the morning of the Laois replay. He also points out that McDonald actually spent very little time behind the halfway line during the second half of that quarter-final.

"There is a lot of talk about Ciarán. There are rumours going he is difficult to work with. He is a delight to work with. Turns up on time, works hard, gives his opinion, contributes, listens. He is a sublimely talented individual as a football player. Now we play to a system, but you don't want to completely restrict a talent within that system. It would be like asking George Best to adhere to a rigid system.

"There were times during the last game when Tom Kelly was marking Ciarán and Billy Sheehan was also tracking him. He keeps opposing teams occupied. And he plays his game. A game will probably come when Ciarán hits six or seven points from play and then people will come up with the conclusion that he has changed his game. But Ciarán contributes in all kinds of ways. Perception worsens behaviour and people see what they want to when it comes to Ciarán, and people want different things from him. All I can say is that we could not be happier with him."

It is highly likely the Crossmolina playmaker will feature prominently in Paul Caffrey's reveries over the week ahead.

Morrison bumped into the Dublin manager after the Laois victory on Sunday.

He knows the Na Fianna man well from coaching clinics he gave in the capital over the years and has the height of respect for what he has done in perhaps the most demanding job in Gaelic games. Not that managing Mayo is a walk in the park either.