Split season means Allianz League now coincides with pre-season - Eoin Murphy

All-Star Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy says the GAA's split season and concertinaed fixture list has forced teams to use the Allianz Hurling League period as their pre-season.

Kilkenny, who can secure their league semi-final place by beating Waterford on Saturday, hope to ultimately reach the final though that would leave them with just two weeks before the Leinster championship begins.

And when the Championship starts it will be a hectic period with five games scheduled across six weekends between 21 April and 26 May. There is the strong chance of a Leinster final also for the four-in-a-row provincial winners.

Speaking at the launch of the John West Féile 2024, four-time All-Star Murphy said teams have no option now but to use the first three months of the year for heavy training in order to peak in the early summer.

"I'm a huge fan of the split season - probably not a huge fan of such a short break between the league and championship though because you're in such a hard block of training now," said Murphy.

"And look, it is relatively easy for me because I'm not doing the same volume of running out the field as lads are in matches. But it's a block of training that you're in now and it's your pre-season and it's quite tough on the guys. There are no excuses because you still want to perform on matchday but it's really about prepping for the Leinster championship."

The amount of players used by teams after just four games in Division 1 underlines just how management teams have been more focused on building and experimenting for the summer than chasing league success.

Tipperary have already used a whopping 37 players, Limerick are on 35 while the return of TJ Reid against Clare in Round 4 swelled Kilkenny's number to 33.

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