Munster teams face mammoth challenges early on

The Munster Championship is so good, it could be bad – for teams, not spectators.

There's an age old saying, 'too much of a good thing is a bad thing'. In regards to the Munster Championship, could this be true for the groups of players involved in these weekly titanic battles in the long run?

As spectators, we are being spoilt and we love it, with these exhibitions of speed, skill and passion from all involved.

Epic clashes in the Gaelic Grounds, in the Páirc and in Thurles, and it’s not done yet, not by a long shot.

The mathematical possibility of Limerick being out after three games is something nobody would have even thought about but now has become a reality, should Clare beat Waterford, then Cork beat Clare, and Tipp beat Limerick in two weeks' time. Lots of ifs and buts there and a lot of hurling to take pace beforehand, but nonetheless, a possibility.

I’m just wondering with all these brilliant spectacles, at what cost will it come to those teams who eventually make it out, especially those who come third or lose in the Munster final and for who the rest period before the All-Ireland series is shortened.

If you come third in Munster, you will have done very well to get to the preliminary quarter-final where you will get a well-deserved three-week break before playing the runner-up of the Joe McDonagh. But then it’s week-on-week again and you play, for me, a much fresher Leinster final runner-up in Kilkenny or Galway in the quarter-final the following week.

Not asking for any small fiddle here but just stating the facts, the Munster Championship is brilliant but by god is it tough going on the players involved and, in the long run, could the wear and tear of the effort involved to just get out of it be detrimental to a