Leinster, the unloved sibling of the hurling championship, could do with the public relations boost of a humdinger on Sunday.
If only to quieten the stream of condescension and dismissiveness emanating from down south.
To paraphrase one Munster legend, they have listened to many jibes over the past couple of months.
The unity of Hurling Nation is in danger of sundering due to Munster exceptionalism.
Former Limerick hurler Niall Moran really pushed the boat out when he posited on the Our Game podcast - mischievously no doubt - that a Munster Championship medal might be worth more than an All-Ireland medal at this stage.
He followed it up with a wistful homily to the delights of the Munster championship - "the scene coming down the Ennis Road yesterday, no different to going down the Hill in Thurles, or going down to La Bombonera in Ennis last weekend" ('I thought that was in Buenos Aires,' mutter the Leinster crowd in unison).
He did acknowledge that the trip to Croke Park wasn't without its perks, chief among them being the prospect of a Supermacs at Junction 14 - a motorway station service in Monasterevin for the uninitiated.
If such talk isn't reined in, the Munster hurling fraternity may soon seek to go further and rebrand the All-Ireland series as an afterthought.
In this new reality, the All-Ireland hurling final could be the equivalent of the World Club Cup final. Perhaps run off on a weekday afternoon a few months later, with Kilkenny or Galway serving as hurling's equivalent of Palmeiras or Vasco de Gama or Colo-Colo.
In a few years, they could probably stick it exclusively on GAAGO without a peep of complaint from a government minister.
The protracted nature of the round-robin format has heralded a new era of provincial animosity.
Hurling folk from Leinster are beginning to harrumph about Munster preening the way the Gaelic football fanatics from the border counties usually do.
Had the Railway Cup not already existed and fallen into irrelevance, some hurling Todd Boehly-type would surely be touting the potential of a lucrative match-up at this stage.
The thrilling final day of the Leinster round robin, where Wexford turned over Kilkenny in a nine-goal extravaganza to preserve their status at hurling's top table, doesn't seem to have put much of a dent in the narrative.
We have arrived at the Leinster final pairing that was universally predicted beforehand, albeit not before some alternatives were teased on the final weekend of the round robin.
Whereas the Munster final tickets that went on general sale sold out in under 25 minutes, no one looking for a ticket to Croker this Sunday should have any difficulty getting their hands on one.
Eddie Brennan argued this week they'd be as well off hold it in Tullamore, which might generate a better atmosphere although probably wouldn't say much for the prestige of the competition.
All of which is to say, the Leinster hurling brand could do with a rip-roaring contest this Sunday, especially since it comes hot on the heels of the Gaelic Grounds showdown.
The 2023 edition doesn't have much to live up to in its own province at least. Last year's final was a turgid arm-wrestle that only Brian Cody could love.
The build-up had been dominated by the fallout from the infamous Salthill handshake/vice-grip. It was jokingly proposed that RTÉ2 should simply train their cameras on the sideline for the entire 70 minutes and shunt the game itself over to the News channel. Given the match that unfolded, that might have been the better option.
It was a game which never got out of neutral. A cagey opening period stretched out over the entire 70 minutes. Kilkenny gained a stranglehold in their own half-back line, established an arm's length advantage in the first quarter and held it in place for the rest of the game.
Galway, on the occasions when they did find space to shoot, were wasteful, and players who had flourished during the round robin - Cathal Mannion, Tom Monaghan - barely got a sniff.
Not surprisingly in a game which struggled to deliver 20 seconds of continuous action, TJ Reid had a field day on placed balls, drilling over 0-12 (11f, 1 '65) of Kilkenny's tally 0-22. Adrian Mullen, standout player on the day, plundered 0-04 from play.
Damagingly for Kilkenny, Mullen is absent this weekend and likely for the rest of the summer, due to a thumb injury picked up against Wexford.
The Cats' form has generally been unexceptional in the round robin. Reid, now 35, passed the 600-point barrier in the all-time championship scoring charts and has been engaged in a tit-for-tat battle with Pat Horgan for top spot in the all-time list.
While the Ballyhale great is likely to reclaim top spot by the season's end - given that Hoggie has no more chance to add to his tally in 2023 - Reid's scoring tally from play has been relatively paltry this campaign.
This season has marked the ascension of Eoin Cody to the status of scorer in chief for Kilkenny. The 22-year-old rattled off six points in a man-of-the-match display against Galway and struck a hat-trick in the anarchic finale in Wexford Park.
Once again, they conspired to lose to Wexford, which is in danger of becoming an ingrained habit. On the other hand, the result was immaterial from the Cats' perspective.
The weekend sees the return of Mikey Carey after a prolonged absence, while Paddy Deegan is also named having missed the loss in Wexford.
Galway's first-half display against Dublin was so bad it verged on the surreal.
The westerners' dogged insistence on approaching championship games against Dublin as if they were a challenge match against one of the Christy Ring teams remains one of oddities of the modern Leinster Championship (curiously, a tradition has developed in Leinster whereby the Dubs routinely rattle Galway while folding limply against Kilkenny - though they were somewhat better in Nowlan Park this year - whereas Wexford have taken to doing things the other way around).
Either way, Galway roused themselves in time to earn a draw and had the game gone any longer, they looked the likeliest winners. Not that they were cut much slack afterwards.
Daithi Burke, on picking up the MOTM prize, wasn't inclined to glory in the comeback, quickly insisting in his post-match interview that the team had been "embarrassed" by the first-half performance.
Nonetheless, Galway are still unbeaten and finished top of the Leinster round robin again, as they have done in three out of the four editions of the format.
The round-robin campaign did flag up issues at both ends of the pitch.
The switch-up of Daithí Burke and Gearóid McInerney has generated plenty of debate, the pair trading places in the backline.
While Burke has been influential at centre-back, roaring into the game in the final quarter surge in Nowlan Park and setting in train their comeback against Dublin, McInerney has looked considerably more uncomfortable at No 3.
Galway leaked two goals in the opening three minutes at home to Wexford before eventually sauntering away to a handy victory. More alarming were the scarcely believable goals conceded in the first half against Dublin, although neither, it should be noted, were McInerney's fault.
Since Burke was moved out, indications are that Galway's rivals have lifted their half-decade-long embargo on pumping high ball on top of their full-back line. The consensus among the pundit class is that Galway look more vulnerable in the current arrangement and are losing more than they're gaining.
Up front, Conor Whelan has cut a frustrated figure against the top-tier teams in this campaign, often double-marked and left vainly protesting the Tribesmen's shoot-on-sight tendency out the field.
Conor Cooney, meanwhile, reputedly so imperious in at club championship level, looks sheepish and bereft of confidence up front.
More encouragingly, Evan Niland, now 24, has begun to carry more of the scoring load this term, while Kevin Cooney has developed as an effective and industrious wing-forward.
In years past, the pronounced motivation gap between the two teams in Leinster finals has been a telling factor.
Ahead of last year's provincial final, Joe Canning bluntly admitted in his Irish Times column that his three Leinster medals didn't mean a whole pile to him.
In contrast, Aidan Fogarty asserted, by way of explanation for the Salthill vice-grip, that Brian Cody was personally offended by the idea of Galway toddling off across the Shannon with the Bob O'Keefe Cup in the boot of the county secretary's car.
Cody, according to Fogarty, could just about tolerate the idea of Wexford or Dublin winning the odd one. But not Galway, certainly not Galway. "Brian was always a traditionalist," he added.
That motivation gap may have narrowed substantially.
Cody is no longer prowling the sideline, rubbing his hands together hungrily and peering out from his peaked cap.
Derek Lyng has presided over a harmonious, low-key transition so far. Kilkenny have continued to evolve their game in a more modern direction, as had already been happening to some degree under Cody.
The approach remains as common-sensical as it always was under his predecessor, and the timeless blue-collar characteristics of Kilkenny hurling are still in place.
Nonetheless, on a psychological level, the Cats feel a less intimidating prospect without their patriarch stalking the touchline.
In year two of his reign, Shefflin and Galway could do with plonking silverware on the table to show some tangible reward.
With Galway's round-robin form somewhat mixed and the Munster contenders looking especially daunting, Leinster might be their best bet.
Added to that, there's the further incentive of excising the demons of last year's baffling no-show. Another non-performance in a provincial final and Shefflin might begin to tire of his new surroundings.
For what's at stake, we'll tip Galway to edge it and avenge last year's defeat.
Watch the Leinster Hurling final, Kilkenny v Galway, on Sunday from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to updates throughout the day on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
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