It's been an up and down league, most teams got what was needed out of it and all bar four in Division 1 will be looking to Championship in five or six weeks’ time.
But who has come out in the best shape? Who’s the happiest manager after all this, who has questions still to answer, and which players stood out?
Happiest manager
I think Micheál Donoghue will be so much more content going into this Championship campaign in comparison to last year after what has been a very positive league for him and the men in maroon and white.
He has discovered that the young guns can mix it, can hurl and they have stood up to several stern challenges.
He has found several players that are genuine Championship team contenders when he sits down to pick his team for the first round of Leinster in five weeks’ time.
Joshua Ryan and Cillian Trayers in defence, Rory Burke, Jason Rabbitte and Aaron Niland in attack would all be names I would have in my starting team list for that Kilkenny game.
Throw Daithí Burke back into the number 3 spot with Gavin Lee sitting in front of him and I think you will have a much stronger Galway side.
The league has been positive for Galway and they must certainly be thinking we are going to give Leinster a serious rattle now and see where the journey takes them then.
For Galway, it is glass half full right now.
Questions left to answer
The manager with the most head scratching to do over the coming weeks will be Derek Lyng.
Kilkenny’s performance against Tipp was much better in comparison to what happened the previous outing in Salthill but it was always going to be because it couldn’t get any worse.
They will have known that themselves.
However, it was still TJ Reid (above) who would top-score for them against Tipp and you have to ask, will the dependance on TJ still be there to perform come Championship time?
I have said several times he is the best I have ever seen but the pace of Championship hurling is ferocious and it is very hard to keep asking this man to be the player to get them over the line.
What new players have come in during this league campaign and put their hands up for a championship spot?
Maybe Liam Moore in attack. Huw Lawlor was always going to be impossible to replace but Mikey Carey has been solid.
But what if Darragh Corcoran can’t play 6, who would step into that breach then?
I think Kilkenny have more questions than answers after this league, they have five weeks to find those answers and more often than not they do when it comes to the Championship.
I feel this will be Lyng’s toughest pre-Championship window as the Kilkenny manager to try and get the right 15 on the field week on week to retain their Leinster crown.
Head-turners
The one big positive for Kilkenny is the emergence of Aidan Tallis (below) as, in my opinion, the best goalie in the country right now.
He has been consistently brilliant with his puckouts and shot-stopping and this was to the fore in Thurles last Saturday night with some top-class point-blank saves.
A fully fit Eoin Murphy still starts in the goal for Championship, because it’s Eoin Murphy basically and he’s just class, but Tallis has given them real options now to perhaps try in some of the Leinster Championship games or a serious back-up for Murphy if and when that time comes.
New Limerick Leaders
While Cathal O’Neill, Aidan O’Connor and Shane O’Brien have been involved for a few years now in the panel or making appearances sporadically, I think this league campaign has seen them announce to the world, and most importantly to John Kiely, that they are now starters when it comes to Championship.
They have been very consistent in all their games, they have been the go-to scorers in most games and they have stepped up as the new leaders in this Limerick scoring unit.
O’Connor (above) has been the player of the league for me and his free-taking has been top level but it has to be for him to retain that mantle for Championship with one Aaron Gillane waiting in the wings.
He is embracing it all brilliantly thus far.
O’Neill has said it all on the field; the half-forward line is where he is at his brilliant best; case in point, his 1-06 from play against Galway and inside the Bull O’Brien has the touch, class and power that is the envy of many full-forwards.
He has shown a great maturity in his performances throughout the league, too, in playing that plus-one with Gillane inside.
He might not always be shooting the lights out but is always contributing in terms of securing ball, making runs to create space for on-rushing players and just working for the team.
Galway’s new sharpshooter
Down through the years some of the best ball-strikers have worn the maroon and white and now another is adding his name to that list in the form of Clarinbridge's Aaron Niland (below).
As a coach of young children I would love to be able to show the boys and girls in my school a picture of Niland's hurley and how the sweet spot on his stick has been beaten black and blue from consistently striking the ball in that area of the bas.
There is no secret to this, it is just repetition, practice and a drive to want to be better.
I’d say the free-taking competitions between himself and his brother Evan were unreal to witness as they grew up and I’m sure there is a wall or some area in the Niland household that is withered from balls being struck against it.
Please let me know, people of Clarinbridge, if this was the case.
Aaron has been a name on the lips of hurling people for a few years now with his performances at underage club, county and schools level but he has announced himself to the wider hurling world now with a bang.
His pace, touch and ball-striking have been a joy to witness first hand this year but I have also been seriously impressed with that bit of steel he has when it comes to the 50-50 ball and his attitude towards working for the team and tracking back when needed.
He is going to be a serious option and weapon in Galway's armour for Championship battles this year.
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