The All-Ireland SFC Round 1 draw threw up some cracking contests and whet the appetite for a big summer, but some have argued its timing has diluted the hype around the upcoming provincial finals.
Perhaps the most pertinent example is Kerry, who face Cork in the Munster decider this weekend. Many Kingdom supporters might already have an eye on their All-Ireland showdown against Donegal two weeks later.
Former Dublin midfielder Ciarán Whelan, speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, insisted the provincial championships are enjoying a "revival", but did ponder if the GAA might eventually tweak the calendar to play them off earlier in the year.
"There is an element that (the All-Ireland draw) changes the direction of the conversation and the promotion of the provincial championships, but I still think we've had a revival in the provincial championships," said Whelan.
"They've been really, really good. The appetite has been really strong from all the counties for them. I do wonder, though, the fact now that the GAA have been open to change over the last few years and we've looked at different formats... is the next proper step maybe looking at playing the provincials first in their own right and giving them maybe the respect they deserve and having a league then feeding into a knockout championship or something along those lines.
"Because it's a little bit higgeldy-piggeldy in that, you look at the likes of Tyrone with six weeks (of a break) and Mayo five weeks... teams aren't planning for that. That's not part of their plan at the start of the year.
"They obviously have ambitions to get through the provincial championships and they're now kind of sitting back, back in kind of training mode, back probably with a potential to ambush some of the teams coming out of the provincials to a certain degree. And that's probably the risk."
Whelan argued that those counties with time on their hands also now possess an advantage of sorts.
"We've seen in the provincial championships, when a team has a few weeks to focus on an opponent, they do it in great detail," he said.
"We saw what Down did to Donegal. We saw what Roscommon did. So the guys that are in the provincial finals over the next couple of weekends are putting themselves in the shop window. And there's also a lot of mental energy put into those games as well.
"The likes of Westmeath getting that run in Leinster, getting to a Leinster final, they'll have put a lot of energy into the Leinster campaign, as with Dublin, as with Monaghan, as with Armagh and the same in Munster and Connacht.
"So it just gives maybe a slight advantage."
Ex-Westmeath forward and manager Dessie Dolan agreed with Whelan's points, adding: "The draw certainly caused a bit of confusion. My brother-in-law is in England and he was wondering, 'so wait now we're playing Cavan in what game?' So it does definitely cause confusion.
"To be honest, I totally understand from the GAA's perspective the logistics concerned, the organising and planning is incredible. We just assume everything happens naturally. It doesn't.
"But when you have a draw and Donegal are playing Kerry, I think it kind of detracts from the Kerry-Cork Munster final because that's what's coming down the tracks and everyone's going, 'never mind the Cork-Kerry one, the massive game is down the road in a couple of weeks'.
"The GAA have to plan and have to figure things out, but I do kind of wonder... the place of the provincial championship, it's placing in the bigger picture is kind of, it's getting a little bit lost. There's still value in it, obviously, there's massive value in it. But in terms of its placing and all of that, it definitely is a bit lost."
Watch Kerry v Cork in the Munster Football final (1.45pm) and Roscommon v Galway in the Connacht Football final (4.15pm) on Sunday from 1.15pm 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 Saturday Game and 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.
