Standing on the sideline with the Kilkenny senior team gave Martin Fogarty a close-up view of the bright lights and the biggest days. Now he’s national hurling development manager, he sees what’s happening off Broadway.

Twenty years ago, Loughnane’s Clare emerged from nowhere to set the summer alight. Are we there again, waiting for a bolter to win the All Ireland, a team to come from the clouds and cut a swathe through a mediocre field?