Expect selective league approach from hurling managers

We go again.

Medals have been given out. Team holidays seem a distant memory now as players are flat out in the gym, tearing up the fields and astro pitches of their county, hoping not to puke right in front of the management to show any signs of weakness. All in the hope of being back here next year doing the exact same thing but hopefully with some silverware to look back on from the year's work

We’re still just about in the Happy New Year window and we’re about to start the league. If it is to start any earlier we’ll be back to the glory days of the 80’s and 90’s where we had a few league games played before Santa arrived.

League and championship are starting too early for my liking. I am all for the split season, in theory, but let’s be honest here, the best teams and their players are seeing little if no rest these days.

You could justifiably argue that it’s simply the price of success, but the league does not need to start this early if the championship doesn’t commence until May. Pushing things out even a little would only impact a few counties at the business end of the inter-county season, maybe two teams in each code with a respective All-Ireland finals in August.

The rest of the country can get on with their respective championships. It’s still a workable proposition to start the league in February and championship in May.

Early season rant over, it’s time to focus on the 2025 league.

With two divisions in the Division One, 1A contains the strongest seven teams. We should see competitive fare here, while in 1B I’d expect Dublin and Waterford as the top two with Offaly hoping to make a mark with a promising crop of young hurlers coming through.

People would ask if teams really want to win the league anymore. It did