The 2026 championship is underway, even if going by crowd size, it may have started with a whimper in some parts of the country.
Aside from the big game in the Athletic Grounds, where Tyrone showed up in a big way after a dreadful league, the attendances were alarmingly poor for some of the other games.
There were just 1,200 at the Longford-Westmeath game and under 2,500 at the Offaly-Laois match the evening before. These figures are well down on previous championship openers between those respective counties in days gone by.
There were some mitigating factors. The difficulty of travel last week - for reasons we all know about - surely played a part. The general cost of living and price of admission are possible reasons.
But then, league crowds continue to rise, albeit more so in the top tiers. Maybe we're just seeing less buzz about the provincial championships in general. It possibly reflects the lack of optimism and hype in the specific counties involved.
You're reluctant to bring up this point but the April start may not be helping here. And not just on account of patchy weather. These outings no longer inhabit their traditional location in the calendar.
But Congress gave a pretty emphatic answer regarding the composition of the season earlier this year. So, there's no point raking over that issue again. It's not going to change now.
There wasn't a great crowd in Markievicz Park either, though the visiting supporters were rewarded with a famous victory. It's 15 years since Leitrim last won a Connacht championship match on Connacht soil - my first year as a championship starter for Mayo.
It's vindication for Steven Poacher, who was given a rough ride for some of his statements last year (including in this column, to be fair!) but this a big coup. And Barry McNulty is receiving some well-deserved national acclaim. It was another sensational performance and a beautifully taken goal.
They rode their luck a bit in the finish, with Sligo making a hames of the final play. But it's the least Leitrim deserved.
Hurling will hog most of the limelight this weekend, naturally, given the heavyweight clashes in Munster and Leinster.
But there's a few enticing games in the Leinster SFC. Ger Brennan will have to have a seat reserved in the stand in Aughrim. The Dubs got it hard against Wicklow in the Leinster championship 12 months ago. We thought it was a blip but it turned out to be a taster of what was to come.
Oisín McConville's waspish post-match interview after the Carlow game definitely gave everyone a chuckle. It's hard to believe Joe Murphy was really getting at him but you'll grasp at any motivation you can find. They were fired up and it worked for them.
Westmeath had plenty in common with Wicklow in that they both missed out on promotion in sickening fashion in the final few seconds of the campaign. And they both had big wins over promoted teams. They'll get a rattle against Meath, who have some pressure on them going into this provincial campaign. It's a free hit for Westmeath, though probably hard to see them winning.
Perhaps the trickiest to call is Kildare-Laois in Newbridge.
Kildare remain a perennial enigma - the Spurs of Gaelic football.
After three rounds of the league, we thought they were onto something good.
They got a draw away to Tyrone - which I suppose ended up telling us more about Tyrone than Kildare in the end - and then easily beat Offaly. Even the subsequent performance against Derry indicated that things were finally headed in the right direction.
How misleading it all was. They lost their last five games in the league and are back in Division 3 next year. This from a county that's won two Under-20 All-Ireland titles in the last decade.
The performance against Meath was particularly atrocious, all the more embarrassing for being live on TV. Though it was the Cavan result that was the most damaging in the end.
I saw Kevin Feely saying yesterday that a Leinster title is in reach. It's the right attitude to adopt and fair play to him for showing ambition. But from the outside, it's very hard to make a logical case for them.
Their malaise is harder to fathom when you consider the potential within the county, evidenced by the aforementioned Under-20 titles. The two managers who oversaw those All-Ireland wins are both steering things at senior level now.
I have some experience of their potential first-hand. We were the fall-guys the last time they made a big splash in the championship in 2018.
The Kildare display after the Newbridge or Nowhere saga was really an outlier. Cian O'Neill cleverly turned the home advantage issue into a rallying cry and they produced a defiant performance. (We were probably a bit jaded from our exertions in the previous two championships and were never really at it that summer, but that's by the by.) Kildare wound up reaching the Super 8s and having a decent summer - coincidentally, they also beat Mayo in that year's Under-20 final.
I suppose the point is that the psychological edge provided by the Newbridge or Nowhere controversy isn't easy to replicate. It proved to be pretty much a one-off and Kildare haven't done anything at senior level since really. Jack O'Connor did get them back to Division 1 briefly but he was out of there as soon as the Kerry vacancy reappeared and they came back down straight away.
They had a horrible couple of years then, including about 12 or 13 games where they couldn't score a goal. Brian Flanagan came in after his exploits with the Under-20s and did lead them to a Tailteann Cup, though that's probably the minimum they should expect with their resources.
I played against Flanagan and he was a tough, steely bit of stuff. I thought he might bring more of those qualities to that Kildare team but we're yet to see it properly.
Are they vulnerable against Laois? They're always vulnerable, to be honest.
Laois had a middling league, at best, and were hit hard by opt-outs before it started but they're after turning over Offaly and now have a bit of momentum.
On balance, I'd give the nod to Kildare. Though, in truth, you can't do so with any great confidence.
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