Ian O'Riordan finds that Sunday's favourites have cut their group training sessions back to one a week in the run-up to the big game

Despite their growing reputation as one of the fittest teams around, Tyrone's run-up to Sunday's Allianz Football League final has come off a campaign of scaled-back training.

The team has been training collectively only once a week and instead the management has put faith in the self-motivation of players.

But the joint management of Eugene McKenna and Art McRory have not lowered their standards. While they may have moved away from the customary pre-championship intensity, the level of fitness within the side has never been compromised.

"The players' own fitness is really their own responsibility, and I think that level of fitness overall is much higher than it was last year," says McKenna.

There could have been a risk involved with that approach, especially as the GAA footballer has typically struggled a little with self-motivation.

Take the whistle and stopwatch out of training and there was always the danger of the soft option, more so when no one was looking.

This past winter also presented a new threat of neglect. For most county players it was the first true hibernation, with the league held over until the spring and the days of the do-or-die championship now forgotten.

McKenna is satisfied that self-motivation is not a problem for the Tyrone players: "Kevin Hughes is an obvious player whose fitness level is much better than it was last year. He's buckled down and started doing a lot of work on his own, and he's seeing the benefits of it.

"The new boys in there have also stepped up a lot this year, like Peter Ward in goal and Brian Robinson and Conor Gormley at corner back. They were working with us last year but have progressed and are starting to come in for us this year.

"But there's a tendency to overlook the work of the more established players. The likes of Gerald Cavlan is playing a very important role for us this year. He's been about for a few years now but he's only 26, and playing very well for us this year."

The Tyrone team have also been putting a strong emphasis on weight training, but that too is now a matter for the players in their own time. McKenna was picking up on weight training during the end of his own career in the late 1980s and he feels now that it is crucial for modern players.

"Well, we picked up on it the last time we were in management," he says. "It's not a question of getting an edge now, but you're just being left behind if you don't. Again, it's something the players do in their own time and in their own location, provided they've been given the right instruction.

"It was disappointing actually that a lot of this team that came out of the All-Ireland-winning minor side didn't know what weight training was all about, and had never been exposed to it.

"We spent most of the first year with the younger players trying to improve their technique and just instilling the whole theory of what we're trying to achieve.

"A player like Cormac McAnallen is a prime example of what it's done for him over the past two years. But we've brought it to the stage now where it's primarily the responsibility of the players themselves to do it."

While McKenna may be assured of his players' fitness, he is less sure how well they will cope with Cavan - particularly the dangerous full-forward line.

"This Cavan team is definitely a progression from what we've played to date. And our corner backs would never have played against the likes of these Cavan players.

"I mean they take people on, and run at the goals and try and draw fouls," he says.

"Our younger players have to learn to cope with that, and this is an ideal opportunity for them. In fact it's a great game for the full-back line in particular to be getting at this stage of the year, and at this stage of their careers."