Any faint notion that the baggy new championship format might signal the end of the glory days of the Allianz Football League has proven completely unfounded.
The inter-county hiatus is so long now that when January rolls around, the appetite is insatiable. Last year's league generated record gate receipts, two-thirds coming from the football league. Demand isn't likely to diminsh this year and the GAA will secure a greater windfall after the recent ticket price hike.
The perception that Mayo paid for their chutzpah in winning the whole thing so soon before their championship opener did suggest league success might be more trouble than it's worth.
But then the league - especially in Division 1 - has never really been about winning. By the time the final arrives, most fans have already psychologically moved onto championship.
For Division 1 teams, the league is, in the first instance, about staying where you are. Though they haven't actually won it since 1985, Monaghan are, in a spiritual sense, the true kings of the National League, having survived in the top tier longer than anyone else aside from Kerry - usually in sixth place.
By week seven, the drama is found at the bottom of the table rather than at the top. We know now how much survival means to players. Lee Keegan disclosed this week that an injured Cillian O'Connor sought solace in scripture in the jacks of a Westport alehouse when it appeared Mayo were on the brink of relegation in 2018. The man above came through for Mayo for a change that day, Kevin McLoughlin being allowed take 11 steps before curling over a late equaliser.
This year, we're in the rare position of being able to announce that the All-Ireland champions are back in Division 1... 2023 was the first time since 2002 that the Sam Maguire winners began the year outside the top tier.
It's been established that the 2023 Dublin XV were slightly older than the Kerry 1986 team - hitherto assumed to be the oldest All-Ireland winning side - and the former's average age has now tipped over 30.
Ger Brennan, now Louth manager, said at the beginning of 2023, with all the confidence of an insider, that Dublin would win the All-Ireland but it would be the final one for a while.
The valedictory tone in the post-match last July had encouraged the notion that the 2023 season did indeed represent 'one last heist' for the 2010s generation.
But it turns out the franchise has a bit more left to run (And people thought the Fast and the Furious makers dragged the a**e out of it).
In the end, only Dean Rock retired for good, though corner-back Davy Byrne is gone travelling for the year. James McCarthy confirmed, in throwaway fashion over the winter, that he'd be sticking around for a run at All-Ireland No. 10. The famous '93s - McCaffrey, Mannion, Fenton, Kilkenny - are all present and correct. As for their now 42-year old goalkeeper, the most we can probably say is we'll find out when we find out.
In their heyday, they insisted on winning every match going, though latterly they've been picking their battles. Adding another league title to their mountain of silverware is surely not a high priority and given the team's age profile, Dessie may take the opportunity to launch a few of the newer generation - Skerries' Greg McEneaney could be one to emerge.
Kerry won the first three league titles of the 2020s - the middle one shared - but following a belated All-Ireland triumph, chose to ease off the throttle in 2023 and coast to safety on home wins.
Last year's All-Ireland final defeat was as sickening as any of the noughties era losses to Tyrone and Jack O'Connor was, unsurprisingly, somewhat curt and grouchy afterwards.
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The county went quiet over the winter save for the annual barney over their increasingly contentious county championship format. The kind of ominous quiet that so often preceded a Kerry All-Ireland year. They have lost Jack Barry to the southern hemisphere for 2024 but Joe O'Connor has recovered from his ACL injury. The captaincy passes from David to Paudie Clifford this year, though both are being rested for the opening two rounds of the league.
Ulster's representation in Division 1 is cut from four to three this year, with Armagh and Donegal falling through the trapdoor and Derry coming the other way.
Derry were in Division 4 as recently as 2019 and yet have made such an impact in the last two championship summers that their arrival in the top tier feels overdue.
Over the winter, Mickey Harte departed Louth with what was regarded as indecent haste for another shot at All-Ireland glory with one of his native county's bitterest rivals.
There were anecdotal reports of some Derry supporters reacting like Ibrox season ticket holders seeing Mo Johnston walk in the door. Quite how representative these are of the broad mass of Derry supporters remains to be seen.
The relative thinness of their panel has been pegged as a weakness and squad rotation hasn't been much in evidence. Harte even deployed a large number of first-teamers when racking up his 450th McKenna Cup title this month. One assumes the Glen boys might be offered some respite early on in the league. But the Derry A-listers have shown very little signs of fatigue despite their exertions.
Harte's previously unimpeachable managerial reputation wasn't helped by Tyrone winning a smash and grab All-Ireland as soon as he finally left. But then the last two years have probably prompted a rethink on that.
In the end, last year's championship was hardly any more uplifting than their wretched title defence in 2022.
With Niall Sludden and Ronan McNamee gone, Richie Donnelly opting out and Mattie Donnelly battling injury, the mood music isn't great this spring.
The western powers dominated the league last year, filling spots one, two and three in the top tier. And then none of them reached an All-Ireland semi-final a few months later.
After the league triumph, Mayo's summer zig-zagged so speedily between highs and lows, it was hard to keep up. They looked like full-blown contenders again after Killarney but the crushing second half against Dublin gave off 2019 vibes. Keegan suggested this week they might pace themselves more in the league this time around.
Galway, in 2023, became the first ever provincial champions to miss out on the last-eight - if the Connacht and Leinster secretaries have their way, they'll be the last. The 2022 All-Ireland finalists were power ranking darlings in the early part of the summer, more by default than anything else, until their season unravelled in shockingly abrupt fashion in the span of seven days in late June.
Their dreadful run of injuries was significant mitigation, though Shane Walsh's tail-off in form after his stellar 2022 campaign was less explicable.
The Rossies, a yo-yo outfit for most of the past decade, were a revelation in last year's league, though they're without marksman Ciaran Murtagh for 2024. Their last strong showing in Division 1 in 2016 preceded a poor championship and relegation the following year. But they've become used to the top table. Enda Smith is a newly minted All-Star, the county's first since Francie Grehan in 2001, and Ben O'Carroll looked like a budding superstar in Brigid's run to the club final.
They have four away trips this year, however, with one of their home games against Galway (who they can never seem to beat in the Hyde anyway).
What of the great survivors? Six wins in 15 competitive games in 2023 was enough to deliver Monaghan safety and an All-Ireland semi-final appearance. This year, however, they've lost Karl Gallagher to the Aussie Rules and Rory Beggan to the gridiron - initially at least. It's customary to tip them for the drop at this time every year and we've no intention of disappointing them today.
Dublin
2023 League: Division 2 winners
2023 Championship: All-Ireland champions
Opening fixture: Monaghan (home)
Manager: Dessie Farrell (fifth season in charge)
Captain: James McCarthy
Squad news: The anticipated exodus in the wake of their All-Ireland victory in 2023 has largely not materialised. Dean Rock, already reduced to cameo appearances, has called it quits, while Farrell confirmed that Ryan Basquel has also retired. The biggest absentee is Davy Byrne, who is travelling for the year.
Prospects: As healthy as ever, it would seem. After their two fallow years, the Dubs are back on top and pursuing a 10th All-Ireland title in 14 seasons.
In the medium-to-long term, the age profile of the team may give some cause for concern (hope for the chasing pack). The average age of the 2023 final starting team will push over 30 come this year's championship. It doesn't look likely that they'll run out of puff in the short-term, however.
Prediction: 4th
Kerry
2023 League: Fifth
2023 Championship: All-Ireland final loss to Dublin
Opening fixture: Derry (home)
Manager: Jack O'Connor (third season of current stint)
Captain: Paudie Clifford
Squad news: Midfielder Jack Barry is set to spend 2024 down under and will be out of action. This news was slightly offset by Austin Stacks midfielder Joe O'Connor returning to the fold after a 15-month absence with an ACL injury.
Prospects: Presumably spent the winter seething after losing a highly-winnable All-Ireland final. In O'Connor's first two managerial stints, they made a habit of recovering from such setbacks by winning the next one. Notwithstanding the loss of Barry, their pool of talent is deep. As regards new faces, John Evans recently hailed Mid-Kerry attacker Cillian Burke as their "find of the year".
Prediction: 1st (runners-up)
Galway
2023 League: 2nd (league runners-up)
2023 Championship: Connacht champions; Preliminary quarter-final exit to Mayo
Opening fixture: Mayo (home)
Manager: Pádraic Joyce (fifth season)
Captain: Sean Kelly
Squad news: Strong suggestions emerging that elegant half-forward Peter Cooke may be unavailable for 2024. Cooke - dubbed a "free bird" by clubmate Sean Kelly - has flitted in and out of the county set-up in recent seasons, missing the 2020 and 2022 seasons before returning in odd years. The Maigh Cuilinn star is in the unusual situation of working US hours for a North American cybersecurity firm, impacting his involvement.
Ian Burke, a 2018 All-Star, is another absentee in 2022 who returned last year, is also unavailable, taking up a place at the prestigious French university INSEAD in 2024.
On the flip side, 2022 All-Star Liam Silke is back from New Zealand, while Kieran Molloy and Sean Mulkerrin have recovered from injury.
Prospects: Last year went swimmingly for the 2022 All-Ireland finalists until things jack-knifed horribly in the final weekend of the round robin. Injuries to Kelly and Damien Comer and Shane Walsh's underwhelming form cost them come crunch time. If they can avoid the same pitfalls, they remain extremely viable contenders.
Prediction: 3rd
Mayo
2023 League: Winners (1st in table)
2023 Championship: Quarter-final loss to Dublin
Opening fixture: Galway (away)
Manager: Kevin McStay (second season)
Captain: Paddy Durcan
Squad news: Another tranche of retirements in the aftermath of last season, with Kevin McLoughlin, Jason Doherty and Brendan Harrison becoming the latest of the 2010s stalwarts to depart the set-up.
Perhaps more surprisingly, Liam McHale, a long-time managerial collaborator with Kevin McStay, left the backroom team in September. The former midfielder bluntly acknowledged on Ballina community radio that the rest of the managerial team had a "totally different philosophy on how this team should play to what I had".
Prospects: Hard to get a read on Mayo after a wildly uneven 2023. Won a league title, triumphed in the championship down in Killarney, eliminated Galway but ended on a bum note with a heavy defeat against the Dubs. On the plus side, the transition is going reasonably, with David McBrien and Sam Callinan breaking through, while Jordan Flynn and Ryan O'Donoghue have emerged as leading lights.
Prediction: 5th
Roscommon
2023 League: 3rd
2023 Championship: Rousing win over Mayo in Connacht, preliminary quarter-final elimination away to Cork
Opening fixture: Tyrone (away)
Manager: Davy Burke (second season)
Captain: Brian Stack
Squad news: Burke and co suffered a hammer blow in the off-season with Ciaran Murtagh opting out for 2024. The St Faithleach's man hit 1-06 against Galway and 0-05 in the draw with Dublin last season but informed management he is unable to commit this season.
Conor Daly and Cian McKeon are also unavailable from last year's starting team, while Niall Kilroy recently announced his retirement.
Prospects: While Murtagh will be a major loss, Roscommon are boosted by the return of Ultan Harney and Tadhg O'Rourke, while Ben O'Carroll and Brian Stack have shone in St Brigid's run to the All-Ireland final. Meanwhile, Enda Smith, the county's first All-Star in 22 years, is still raring to go, according to his manager. Tipped for relegation, they almost made a league final last year.
Prediction: 6th
Tyrone
2023 League: 4th
2023 Championship: Beaten by Monaghan in Ulster, heavy All-Ireland QF loss to Kerry
Opening fixture: Roscommon (home)
Manager(s): Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher (fourth year)
Captain: Peter Harte
Squad news: Two of the 2021 side walked away over the winter months, with Ronan McNamee and latterly Niall Sludden calling it quits. Conor McKenna, another of the starting XV in the '21 final, remains Down Under with the Brisbane Lions. Mattie Donnelly missed Trillick's Ulster championship campaign through injury, though is targeting a return during the league.
Prospects: The past two seasons haven't done much to quieten the critics who claimed they won a jammy All-Ireland title (no such thing, says you). Last year was slightly better than their title defence, though was still very underwhelming, ending with a humbling at the hands of Kerry. Brian Kennedy insisted there was "massive belief" in the side but the aforementioned absentees and Donnelly's injury woes don't bode terribly well.
Prediction: 7th
Derry
2023 League: Division 2 runners-up (1st in table)
2023 Championship: All-Ireland semi-finalists & Ulster champions
Opening fixture: Kerry (away)
Manager: Mickey Harte (first year)
Captain: Conor Glass
Squad news: Harte confirmed that Padraig Cassidy would spend the year travelling, while internet meme hero Benny Heron announced his retirement in November.
Prospects: Indisputably, All-Ireland contenders after pushing Kerry to the brink last year. Harte isn't up there for any other reason and winning has become an ingrained habit for several of their leading players. Shane McGuigan could do with more assistance on the scoring front but still one of the hot-tips for the league.
Prediction: 2nd (winners)
Monaghan
2023 League: 6th
2023 Championship: All-Ireland semi-finalists
Opening fixture: Dublin (away)
Manager: Vinny Corey (second year)
Captain: Kieran Duffy
Squad news: Karl Gallagher (AFL) and Kieran Hughes (retirement) are both gone, while generational keeper Rory Beggan will be out for a chunk of the league at least, and possibly longer if things go to plan in Florida. Conor McManus is committing for the season, though told the BBC's Thomas Niblock that it will likely be his last.
Prospects: Have finished in sixth spot in four of the last five years. And the odd one out was a truncated league (2021) where they beat Galway in extra-time in a relegation play-off. Past performance no guarantee of future results and being without the influential Beggan for several rounds may be too much of a body blow. Also, have four games away from home.
Prediction: 8th
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