Laois boss Eddie Brennan has called for an end to pre-season hurling competitions as managers struggle to integrate college players into their teams for the early rounds of the League.
The Fitzgibbon Cup is being played midweek for another three weeks, and almost every county will be in action the day after the final on Saturday 23 February.
Kilkenny chief Brian Cody and Cork's John Meyler gave their views on the subject yesterday, with Meyler's verdict being that the only way to cope was to release the college players for the duration of that competition.
Former Cats star Brennan has now added his thoughts to the debate, questioning the logic of playing two competitions simultaneously over such a long period while retaining the likes of the Walsh Cup and Munster Hurling League.
"The fixtures, it has to be just torn up really," he told RTÉ Sport. "There's no other way of saying it.
"A bit of common sense has to be finally applied. We're not going to rant and rave, we're just appealing to the powers that be to take a sensible approach to this and look at player welfare.
"It beggars belief that the League can be compressed into five or six weeks and then you have nearly nine weeks to Championship. Stagger them out a little bit, spread out the Fitzgibbon.
"The Walsh Cup needs to go. To me, it's a filler."
Brennan added that as it stands it is incumbent on managers not to ask too much of the many players appearing for both college and county.
"We have seven or eight guys involved in Fitzgibbon so we very much have to look at the (work) load.
"It's very hard to expect players to play five matches in a 15 or 16-day period, at the time of year when it is most demanding on the body.
"You have to be very measured, and fair to the players first and foremost.
"Thankfully, we have a good working relationship with some of the Fitzgibbon managers."
The eight-time All-Ireland winner's first competitive game as a senior inter-county manager ended in a nine-point defeat to Galway yesterday, but Brennan was pleased with his side's efforts as they reduced the deficit in the final quarter.
"I'm enjoying it," he said of his new role on the sideline.
"I can't ask for more than honesty off the players. They were facing down the barrel of a shotgun today but they didn't throw in the towel.
"That was the one pleasing aspect of it and we'll go on for the first year that way, that we're definitely not going to throw in the towel.
"I'd like to think on a day that we were sharper we could have shaved three or four more points off that score."
