Farewell then to the All-Ireland SFC group stages, which bow out with the final series of matches across the coming weekend.

While not a bad concept in theory, the round-robin system suffered primarily due to the fact that three counties in each four-team group progress to the knockout stages. It means that, after 24 matches have been played, just four sides are eliminated.

For the avoidance of doubt, there have been some good encounters so far this year, helped in part by how the new rules have improved the sport as a whole. Some attendances have been encouraging too, but overall, there is a lopsided feel.

By Sunday evening, one of Dublin, Galway or Derry will be out whereas Cork or Roscommon will definitely be through, despite having amassed just a single point between them across four games to date.

The easy handwave explanation is to say that GAA audiences are not fully grabbed by league formats for championships, but the Munster hurling disproves that. That the provincial council could charge €50 for an adult stand ticket last Saturday night was proof of just how popular their showpiece occasion is and the change away from a straight knockout mode has augmented that, if anything.

Sense of jeopardy

However, what the Munster, and Leinster, hurling championships have is a sense of jeopardy attached. While Waterford manager Peter Queally suggested, after his county’s early exit, that four from five advancing would be fairer, his Limerick counterpart John Kiely was quick to make the point that such a scenario would have the effect of dialling down the intensity levels from the current situation where every match counts.

By contrast, the football meanders in the opening couple of rounds, not helped by how the scheduling of the first set of fixtures is spread across two weekends.

The flipside of that, and the reason for allowing three from four to qualify, is to avoid dead rubbers and, over the last two seasons, the final-day drama in each group has been exciting, the sections spread evenly across the weekend.

Such is the way of things, you can almost guarantee we will be in for more this weekend, to the point where there is likely be a, “Why are we getting rid of this?” refrain.

From next year, the system will be more streamlined in that a double-knockout element will be in force and no team will be able to reach the quarter-finals after losing two games, or three if the provincial championships are taken into account.

It should provide more of a championship feel but, much like this and every other year, it will probably be easy to predict the teams in the last eight.

Quality difference

For all the talk about formats and systems and there is a lot – we often feel it’s because there’s no transfer system, leaving a vacuum in terms of column inches to fill – the disparity between the various levels of quality is what really needs to be addressed.

Darragh Bohannon of Clare in action against Paul Walsh of Cork last year. Both counties need wins if they are to keep their seasons alive. \ Ray McManus Sportsfile

Thirteen counties – Armagh, Clare, Cork, Derry, Donegal, Dublin, Galway, Kerry, Louth, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon and Tyrone – have been in the top 16 each year since the introduction of the Tailteann Cup in 2022, while another 13 – Antrim, Carlow, Fermanagh, Laois, Leitrim, London, Longford, New York, Offaly, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow – have only played in the Tailteann in that time.

That is a high level of discord and it is even more acute than that as there are distinct sub-groups, too. The last three seasons have seen just six counties – Armagh, Derry, Dublin, Galway, Kerry and Monaghan – contest the All-Ireland semi-finals, while Clare and Westmeath failed to win a match in the group stage.

The Lake County were back in the Tailteann Cup this year, while Clare have lost both of their Sam Maguire games so far – they take on Louth on Sunday in what is a winner-take-all clash for a place in the preliminary quarter-finals.

Cork and Roscommon do battle in a similar setting – though the Connacht side have a point on the board and so would advance with a draw – but the harsh reality is that the winners in either of those games will probably only be prolonging their campaigns by one match before losing in the last 12, away to a team that has finished runner-up in their group.

In the Cork-Roscommon group, Kerry and Meath will be playing off for a top spot while Down and Monaghan are in a similar scenario in the group that features Louth and Clare.

Bar the fact that All-Ireland champions Armagh will definitely be in the quarter-finals after beating Derry and Dublin, the other pools are full of possibility. Last year, Dublin’s last-eight loss to Galway meant they missed out on the semi-finals for the first time since 2009; this time around, their travails around the three-up rule mean they’re in danger of not even getting to the quarter-finals.

Group 1 will be the last to finish, placed in the prime Sunday-afternoon viewing spot. Donegal face Mayo while Tyrone meet Cavan, all four on two points after a win and a loss each, so the picture there is likely to change on more than a few occasions.

But, to bring us back to the original point – only one of that quartet will be out of contention by Sunday night, whereas the four battling for two spots would give us that cut-throat, proper championship feel.