Many of the country's best hurlers aren’t even in the country at present as they are fine tuning championship preparations in training camps.
As I have written about before, these camps were always something I thoroughly enjoyed, a mixture of great craic and the opportunity for everyone to get fully focused on the task ahead in championship.
So are Clare and Kilkenny missing out on the best possible preparation for championship or are they getting it on Saturday night in Thurles for the Allianz League Division 1 final?
I still believe the winner of the league should be the top team after the group games are done and dusted, but last weekend in the football finals is an obvious counter-argument to that.
It was some of the most exciting football we have seen in a while – mainly the Division 1 final to be fair – but in 20 years’ time, the pub quiz question will be who won Sam Maguire in 2024, not the league showpiece.
That’s the way it has been and always will be, it’s all about the championship.
Will Clare and Kilkenny be going for this?
They both will be 100% and they should be. Come through this battle with a clean bill of health and maybe even one or two more staking a claim for championship selection and it’s excellent preparation for the serious business in 17 days’ time.
Both sides can fully go at it as they won’t meet in their round-robin campaigns so no need for holding back there either.
This is even more likely for Kilkenny, given their first round-robin game is against Antrim and in Nowlan Park, whereas the Banner welcome the All-Ireland champions to Ennis.
So who wants it and who needs it?
One of the greatest men I’ve ever heard to get a team going and focused on the task ahead was Kieran 'Fraggy' Murphy from Sarsfields in Cork.
He was captain of our Fitzgibbon Cup winning team in 2007. He told a story that sticks with me still 17 years on about wanting and needing something. The story goes about a man who has had no water for several hours and a man who had gone without water for nearly two days.
They are both offered some water, but one will get it and must make their case as to why they should get it. The first man who has gone without water for some hours replies I am dehydrated and I really want that water more than anything.
The second man, who had been without water for nearly two days, replies: ‘I do not want that water more than anything else, I simply need that water.’
Whoever loses on Saturday night will not collapse from dehydration, but I do believe that some teams want a win and sometimes a team just needs that win.
In my opinion, Clare are the team where the need is greater.
Over the past few years Clare simply have not done it when the pressure was at its highest against Kilkenny
They are the closest to their neighbours Limerick in terms of hurling, physicality and panel depth now too.
Yet this group, for all their great performances, unbelievable players and a legend of the game leading them, have yet to lift a trophy under Brian Lohan.
While the league is very much the secondary competition, it is a national trophy. It is something concrete for Lohan to point to and say, ‘look lads, that felt good, now we know we can do this, we know we’re as good as the rest and we know we can do it when the pressure is on’.
Over the past few years they simply have not done it when the pressure was at its highest against Kilkenny.
I can only speak from personal experience where we won the league in 2008 and the lift and belief it gave everyone - players, management and supporters - was invaluable in driving us on to achieve greater things as a group.
The Cats are steadily improving game by game and I feel they are in a much better place as a group in comparison to this time last year, when they took a bit of a drumming at the hands of Limerick, perhaps in no small part due to the freshness of the Ballyhale contingent who are hurling all round them at present.
In previous years, they would still be resting or just returning after a long club campaign. Talisman TJ Reid was outstanding against Limerick last time out and he hadn’t pucked a ball in the few previous league campaigns due to Ballyhale’s extended runs.
Derek Lyng has a stronger panel and more depth this year due to lads coming back from injury or travels, the experience gained over the last 12 months for many players, none more so than Billy Drennan who must be up there as the most accurate shot taker in the game at present. I’ve rarely seen him hit a wide.
I was down in Cork for their semi-final and while Limerick were certainly below par, a big part of that was Kilkenny’s intensity and brilliant hurling on the day.
They were miles the better team, and only for the brilliance of Nicky Quaid, it could have been five or six goals easily as I counted up to 10 goal chances created by the black and amber.
You won’t see Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell or Ryan Taylor in action for the Banner, but the strength in depth we have discussed and seen from Clare means that they are sending out very strong teams on a weekly basis now.
Derek Lyng will want to start nailing down what the spine of his Kilkenny team is going to look like. The players and quality are there, it’s just deciding who to put where.
Who will be his centre-back, Paddy Deegan or Richie Reid? Where is the best place for TJ to play? Will he start Billy Drennan or keep him for that super-sub impact?
There will be many intriguing battles right around the field.
Will Kilkenny allow John Conlon play that sweeper role that he is just so good at or will they press up on him?
Who will the brilliant man-marker Mikey Butler go after this time now that Tony Kelly won’t be there?
Will Clare allow Kilkenny go route one as much as they did against Limerick, or will they press up on them?
The sacred sod of Semple Stadium is gradually returning back to its brilliant best after a really tough time for all pitches.
The minors of Tipp and Cork will give it a good test on Thursday night, two days out from the main event and just for a change, it’s supposed to bucket down rain on Saturday.
Give us a break please, and soon.
I’m backing Clare to prevail. I feel they need it, and they know it too. Now it’s time now to start delivering on the great talent they have at their disposal, and I think they will on Saturday.
The confidence they would take from it could be massive for their season ahead.
Follow a live blog on Kilkenny v Clare in the Allianz Hurling League final on Saturday from 7.15pm on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
