Lee Keegan: Round-robin draw should have followed provincial finals

RTÉ Sport analyst Lee Keegan has questioned the GAA's decision to hold the All-Ireland championship round-robin draws before the provincial finals have even been played.

The four groups will be disclosed on Tuesday afternoon, meaning that eight of the 16 teams will have knowledge of two differing potential round-robin paths before a ball has been thrown in.

Five-time All-Star Keegan is unsure about that decision and believes it should have been delayed until after the four provincial champions have been crowned.

"I would have loved to have seen the draw take place next week or the following week, for excitement reasons alone," the Mayo man told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.

"I know it gives teams time and prep, that’s great and that’s lovely, but just for the bit of excitement and drama, to have it on the week entering into the group stage would have been a bit of craic.

"You get that kind of fever for championship so [it's] disappointing from that aspect. Even as a player, the unknown is sometimes more exciting. You go into that week still not knowing and training is going to be a bit of fun.

"All of a sudden you're prepping straight away and all that is going through your head is that one team. I think sometimes that unknown can bring an X-factor and a bit more fun in training."

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The group stage begins with half the teams out on the weekend of 20/21 May and the rest the following week.

It’ll be Pot 1 – the provincial winners - versus Pot 3 first off, and with the third seeds containing