Before a ball was pucked in the Leinster SHC, Kilkenny and Galway were odds-on to be the teams to reach the final, and so it came to pass following Sunday's matches.
It wasn't before the Tribesmen were given a fright by Dublin at Croke Park. Early in the second half the Dubs led by 12 points, but they would only manage another three points from there as Galway found another few gears.
With Wexford in the process of beating Kilkenny in the south-east, Henry Shefflin and his management team would have been aware that they could afford to lose by three points or less and still make the final.
But they very nearly won the match, only for Donal Burke to cancel out Evan Niland's late free.
The draw was enough, but Shefflin suggested afterwards that the comfortable games against Antrim and Westmeath had been less than ideal preparation for the step up to meet Dublin.
Discussing the nature of the Leinster championship this year, which has been described as various different forms of a procession for Kilkenny and Galway, Shane McGrath told the RTÉ GAA Podcast that both teams will have to find another level if they want to properly attack the All-Ireland championship.
"We have to see the real Galway and Kilkenny in the Leinster final," he said.
"For Henry and his troops they need to win this Leinster title. There needs to be a cup on the table with the group that's there.
"Especially with Henry going in and getting involved, the high expectations and standards he has himself personally, what he's done as a player, as a manager with his club; he'll want to bring that in.
"He's a notorious winner so he'll want silverware. He needs something to back up the work that they're doing there. That's where Galway really have to go at this."
For their part, with a place in the Leinster final already secured, Kilkenny were beaten by Wexford on Sunday. The same thing happened last year, but it didn't stop the Cats going on to defend their Bob O'Keefe Cup.
Can we play you every week? Wexford's Kilkenny conundrum
Next month's game is a repeat of last year's Leinster final while the meeting between the duo in the round robin portion of the championship last month ending in a draw.
For McGrath, the opportunity to have an extra week of preparation for the winner of the Leinster final will be worth as much as lifting the trophy is to the players. The champions go straight in the All-Ireland semi-final, while the beaten side has to play a quarter-final first against Tipperary, Carlow or Offaly.
"Kilkenny, we saw it yesterday, it's a different mentality. They didn't have to get anything out of yesterday. Was that in Galway's mindset as well?
"Maybe we'll see two different groups, two teams really going at it [in the final]. Whoever loses that final is going to have to go through an extra week's hurling. A really, really tough game, whoever they're going to be playing against.
"Whereas if you can tick that box, relax, sit down on the couch, get ready for the All-Ireland semi-final. Let's be honest, Leinster will come into it a bit fresher, so if you can go into an All-Ireland semi even more fresh, what an advantage it is over whoever you're going to be playing, who would have played the week before."
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