We are now almost to the stage where most managers are beginning to finalise their championship line-ups and experimentations and rotation policies are coming to an end. The summer is almost upon us and all the focus will be geared towards championship time even though there are still a few important league matches left.

If anything the league has shown us that Cork, Tipperary and Galway will be the main threat to dethroning the Cats when it come to the business end of things with Waterford likely to be in the frame also, but they may be too dependent on the older guys again to see them through.

Cork have made steady progress and Denis Walsh and his selectors will be happy to date and will now be eagerly looking to finish the league well, seeing that they have gotten themselves into contention to win it. There is no doubt there will be a lot of the old guard back on duty in the big games ahead and the likes of Donal Og, Gardiner and Curran driving them on, expectations are beginning to rise again on Leeside. Of the newcomers likely to cement a place on the team, Patrick Horgan, Paudie o Sullivan and Luke Farrell upfront stand out. They are three very talented players and throw in the big man (not telling you which one - we have a few) and they could be there about when it matters most. Shane Murphy and Brian Murphy could all figure in defence and there could be a few surprises with one or two big names losing out. That is all healthy competition for places which was badly needed - there are no more guarantees - perform or else!

Galway have moved up another notch from last year and are now at long last getting consistency into their game and beginning to play for the full period of the game - no more 20 minutes of the West Asleep but more of the West Awake and their victory over Kilkenny will bring them on a ton.

What I liked with them that day is that they were in control and lost their way but that was not the end of them and John McIntyre made the relevant changes to get the victory and was not afraid to do so this time around.

It will surely be the year of the BIG MAN at no 14 and in Iarlaith Tannian they have a player to cause major problems for any defence. He might be the man to allow Joe Canning play in a different position. Galway could be the dark horses!

Tipperary are moving well also with new players emerging and technology now a constant feature of their set up. They certainly have moved to another level with Heart monitors -speed and direction tracking etc all in use. If it means it gets an extra few percentage points from players - I am all for it -once they don't run out the gate when it matters most. To be fair I do not see that happening either but I will keep the one in Pairc Ui Chaoimh open just in case.

Mr Maher at full back has been outstanding player to date and has built on last year's performances, even though Big Dan did cause a little trouble.

Kilkenny are not moving in the same direction as the others but Brian Cody will know if he has learnt anything from last year, it is that there are now three or four teams capable of upsetting the ambitious five-in-a-row plans. He must keep this team as fresh as possible for the important part of year with a possible Leinster Final in July against Galway high on the agenda and winning this and getting to All-Ireland semi-final will be foremost in his mind.

He may not have the emerging talent as in previous times and will rely heavily on the old guard to deliver again. It is all about big championship matches now and he can let someone else battle for the league. This could be the wisest move he will make and expect Shefflin, Brennan, Hickey, Lyng and co to be chomping at the bit when it matters most.

Waterford certainly have found a few new faces but whether Davy will take a chance on them come championship remains to be seen. One area he has to get right is his full back line and in recent league performances, the jury is still out.

Dublin seem to have lost their way a little but last year it was all about setting a standard for themselves in the league and championship and proving to themselves that they are good enough to play on the big stage and they did deliver. Let's hope division one status is retained and they return to the level of performance from 2009. Remember they were only a puck of a ball from All Ireland Semi Final. Second year syndrome can kick in and Anthony Daly knows more than anybody else - it is championship that matters.

Ballyhale are the pick of the bunch

Well they say revenge is sweet and I am sure the celebrations are still going on in the little village. What a team performance it was from the Kilkenny champions and what hunger, desire and skill they showed for the encounter. It was a bitter pill to swallow losing the All-Ireland semi-final to Portumna by the margin they did last year and they certainly had the bit between their teeth.

Portumna will be disappointed by their own performance as a team but as an individual performance you can only admire the contribution of Joe Canning again and some of his point scoring was just in a different league.

Tactically the Shamrocks were much more organised this time around and never allowed the forwards of Portumna to get into their stride and use the open spaces of Croke Park as they would have liked to do. They closed down all avenues and never allowed the Hayes or Canning the opportunity to run at them, so much so that a lot of Joe Canning's scores came from far out the field. The Kilkenny boys were very happy with that as there were no goals conceded as in previous encounters. When Portumna were coming back into the game they shot themselves in the foot by a goalkeeping error and it proved to be very costly as it gave momentum back to Ballyhale and they finished the game on a high.

There is no doubt it was a well deserved victory for them and another you could see with a smile on his face was Mr Cody himself. It was quite clear that Henry Shefflin has not lost any of his appetite or enthusiasm for the game and that will please the Kilkenny manager with bigger events on the way. Also in TJ and Eoin Reid, he certainly will have to give them more game time in the black and amber. By doing that he will keep the other team members on their toes and provide even more competition for places on the county team. That is not great news for the rest of us in other parts of the country! Tweet

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