I don’t see how Liam can hold back but he won’t want to either considering the grief he has experienced at Limerick's hands. 

It was like a glorified challenge game in Ennis. Anyone who read anything into that match is only codding themselves

No disrespect to Westmeath but Kilkenny can really go all-out for a league title when they are facing the midlanders in their opening championship match

If this was a game that Clare had targeted, when a league semi-final was still up for grabs, they went about it a funny way.

Clare-Galway is an intriguing contest in the context of how two of Limerick’s closest challengers are still doing everything in their power to try and make up the ground

The physicality of the tackling and hitting was savage when Galway came to the Gaelic Grounds last February

Cork seem to be operating with a different mindset than most teams

Brian Lohan now has huge options in his forward line

The guttural and deafening roar that erupted at the final whistle just seconds after Shane Kingston had landed the winning point was like a thunderous war-cry

The greatest irony of the competition is that it will still produce some brilliant contests in the opening weeks before managers and players decide to pull up the handbrake