Between the snow we had up north here on Easter Sunday and the remnants of the Easter eggs still asking to be finished off, it hasn't got any easier to wrap the head round early April equating to Championship time.
Before we start, is the league worth a second thought? Or is the final summation any more than Jack O’Connor's trite "at the end of the day, it’s still the league"? Probably not.
All the adventure of the winter and early spring will be long forgotten in a few short weeks. Overall, there were many more brilliant games than not.
It's clear the game is still emerging from its long period of hibernation under the blanket we spent a decade talking about.
Like a buck calf let out at spring, the game at times doesn’t know how to control itself, going a bit mad in all the freedom and space. But were there hints, in this season’s formative months, of fences being erected to wrestle the game back under a modicum of control? I suspect so.
In attack this was particularly evident at times. One of the most eye-catching stats across the league was the return of high percentage conversion of attacks to shots, i.e. the return of the possession game.
Cork manager John Cleary commented as much when he said about the importance of kickouts as when teams win possession now, it almost always ends up in a shot.
Donegal are the obvious experts in the room so their dominant early showings came as no surprise. Against Mayo their determination to play keep-ball and force man-to-man Mayo to keep moving allowed them to take a half-time lead despite playing against a strong wind.
Andy Moran’s determination to attack fast and long undoubtedly played into Donegal’s hands. Kickouts become the only meaningful source of possession against the Tir Chonaill men and when they bossed this area in the Division 1 final, even the best footballer in the country was left a passenger at the other end of the pitch.
It’s something we are witnessing all levels. Wexford were superb in maintaining possession and getting shots off after good quality set-shape attacks, all the hall marks of effective, quality coaching and clear game plan.
Defensively, while many acclaimed the death of zonal defending in last year’s All-Ireland final, the trend is effectively a hybrid between man-to-man and zonal.
Going tight man-to-man is only a 'break glass in case of emergency’ job for example when chasing a game or when opposition has a man on black card. At other times it is too much of a high-wire act.
The hardest pressing will likely belong to the attacking half of the pitch, or to the specific high danger areas along the two-point arc and in goal-scoring range.
Some teams will sit off remote men to close up space centrally and allow the opposition the ball, with only moderate pressure when they are in non-dangerous places. Cue at times, the cat and mouse we were familiar with from the blanket defensive era.
From attack and defence to the third and potentially most important of the three pillars of the game: kickouts; piggery, lottery, you name it, they’ve been called it.
Yet, like so many aspects of ‘luck’ in sport, top teams have a way of making it bend to their will. Given its Masters weekend, Gary Player fits in well here – "the more I practice the luckier I get".
Teams are definitely working on it rather than just accepting it as a rub of the green. It will be a fascinating area to keep an eye on particularly the ‘go-to’ plays team turn to when they need to break the dreaded siege.
Turning to the biggest tie of the opening weekend, Tyrone and Armagh, the script is written and predictable, the only question is can my fellow county men tear it up.
Despite their meagre point accumulation in Division 1, the Orchard County had one of the highest levels of performance in the league. The one area of concern for them - and hope for Tyrone - is the occasional return of ghosts from last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final.
In league outings against Roscommon, Kerry and Dublin, they suffered partial collapses on their kickout. Given all were in the first half and coincided with an Armagh team slow out of the gates, the validity of it as an issue can be questioned but, similar to last year’s championship exit at the hands of Kerry, they conceded heavily in these periods and as such I have no doubt it will be something identified as needing urgent attention within the Armagh camp.
Tyrone can’t hope for as much generosity from their hosts on Sunday but at some stage, if they are to stand a chance, they are going to have to turn the screw on the Armagh kickout and do damage.
In last year’s semi-final loss to Kerry, kickouts were an area of the game Tyrone actually dominated but failed to make it count on the scoreboard, with attacks that became slow and lateral too easily.
The Kingdom’s first-half blitz in the Athletic grounds a few weeks ago was marked by dominance of kickouts and a ruthlessness in attack. Which brings us back to the fascinating place the game finds itself.
The trends may point towards teams playing percentage possession games again. Yet the ability of teams to demonstrate the speed and confidence to play aggressively in moments that lack defined shapes, such as when winning long kickouts or on the rarer moments of winning turnovers, could well provide the catalysts for the biggest results.
When up against the odds like Tyrone find themselves on Sunday, containment and control will only get teams so far. When all else doubts them, the underdogs must back themselves to go toe-to-toe in the big moments and play the ball we all still believe they are capable of.
Watch Armagh v Tyrone in the Ulster Football Championship on Sunday from 4pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
