Ciaran Whelan argues this championship season will mark the beginning of the end for the provincial championships.
League winners Mayo begin their championship campaign at home to neighbours and Division 1 rivals Roscommon next Sunday, in what could the first of potentially eight or nine games to reach an All-Ireland final.
In 2023, the provincial championships are merely the prequel to the 16-strong All-Ireland group phase, with the eight provincial finalists, plus the next best seven placed teams in the league, plus 2022 Tailteann Cup winners Westmeath, sorted into four groups of four.
From there, teams are six games away from All-Ireland glory - potentially seven if one is forced to navigate the preliminary quarter-final between 2nd and 3rd placed teams in the groups.
Given the attritional programme of games and the tightness of the calendar, Whelan suspects that elite sides, who are already assured of their Sam Maguire place, may be demotivated for the provincial fare and some may even benefit from the break afforded by an early loss.
"When you look at it in the context of the new season, can a team really go for everything?" the former Dublin midfielder asked on the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"You've got to remember now, when you come out of the provincial championship, you've six or seven games to win an All-Ireland.
"What's Mayo's goal at the end of the year? It's to win an All-Ireland or be there contending in the last three or four.
"I think we're putting a little bit too much weight on the provincial championships and I think next week might be the beginning of the end for them.
"A loss in the provincial championship, while you might be disappointed with the performance, might just suit some teams. If Mayo were to lose (against Roscommon) you get that few week window to build for the group stage.
"Okay, you lose your seeding, there's a downside to it. But I don't know if teams can go for everything given the season and the attrition involved.
"A little bit of a breather won't be the end of the world. It won't be the end of the world.
"When we get to the end of the season, there'll be a lot of reflection on the flow of the season and how it suited certain teams."
Ulster, where the provincial championship remains ferociously important, has generally been regarded as a bulwark against radical reform of the All-Ireland format.
The majority of Ulster counties, along with Mayo and Galway in Connacht, voted to reject the Proposal B option at Congress in 2021, which sought to detach the provinces from the All-Ireland championships and shift to a league-based format.
However, there are even cracks appearing there with Armagh selector Ciaran McKeever recently indicating that Ulster wouldn't be their priority and Whelan argues that the demands of the new format may weaken the appeal of even the Anglo-Celt.
"Traditionally in the Ulster championship, the team that came out of it came out with huge momentum. After two or three tough games, they came to Croke Park for quarter-finals and semi-finals and it was of huge benefit to them. It stood to teams, particularly from when they started winning All-Irelands in the early 90s.
"But now you come out as Ulster champions after three tough matches in three or four weeks and you possibly have six or seven matches to win an All-Ireland. The goalposts have moved radically.
"I think it will eventually fall away because teams won't invest the same enthusiasm and effort into it. That will maybe take a couple of years. But we'll learn a lot from this year."
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