You might think the break in action would do Shane Dowling the world of good, but you'd be mistaken, writes John Fogarty.

Davy Fitzgerald’s numbers since taking the Wexford role will be frozen for weeks if not months but the inertia doesn’t detract from how impressive they are. According to his tally, he’s lost just 16 of 54 matches.

There is no cause for alarm in Tipperary’s mixed Allianz league campaign thus far, says Shane McGrath.

Hurling folk can be a contrary lot sometimes. Just take the reaction to one aspect of last weekend’s refereeing. We knew that throwing the ball had become an epidemic in recent years, right?

Against Limerick on Sunday, Cork’s maor foirne Diarmuid O’Sullivan was dismissed after approaching referee Seán Cleere on the field.

Ulster secretary Brian McAvoy’s innovative suggestion last month didn’t receive a fraction of the attention it deserved, writes John Fogarty.

A scoreline that wouldn’t be out of place when these two face off at this Páirc Uí Chaoimh venue in less than 11 weeks’ time but that’s where the parallels end.

Our writers chat through the main talking points from the weekend’s Allianz League action.

Kyle Hayes has returned to boost Limerick's attack for Sunday's Allianz Hurling League clash with Cork.

Our writers look ahead to the major talking points ahead of the weekend's Allianz League action.

Options, options, options. For all the pieties to be heard after NHL games, managers are keeping an eye out all the time for options.

It’s a known addiction. Dreams of bigger windows, terrazzo floors, cupboards with no handles so visitors won’t know they are cupboards at all.

It's at times like these you realise hurling never needed to be recognised as a UNESCO-protected cultural activity for it to be fortified.

Defending champions Limerick’s “in it to win it” approach under John Kiely again manifested itself as they extended their winning League run to six games going back to last season.

Our writers pick out the main talking points from the weekend’s Allianz League action.

Greater use of match-day technology so as to allow teams to challenge certain decisions will see the game of hurling become “far too stop-start”, according to Limerick’s Tom Morrissey.

The GAA has banned hurley/water carriers from using walkie talkie radio systems during games.

When a losing manager — unprompted — describes a game as a tale of two halves the story writes itself.

Tipp versus Limerick. The first match of 2020. The last match of 2019 in an only very slightly parallel dimension, one not populated by Alan Kelly’s umpires.

John Fogarty previews the weekend's GAA fixtures.

Currid was part of John Kiely’s backroom team when Limerick ended their 45-year wait for the Liam MacCarthy Cup in 2018.

Limerick GAA have announced that Declan Hannon will continue as the county's hurling captain for 2020.

Davy Fitzgerald has earned a reputation as a nomadic manager who doesn’t spend too long in any one position but it’s a label Conor McDonald could never understand.

If the championship is Broadway and the NHL off-Broadway, how would you describe last Saturday night?

As he emerged from a home dressing room, reinforced by the glow of the more joyous half of a Limerick double on Saturday evening, Billy Lee ducked away from the awaiting reporters for just a moment.

Anthony Daly joins Colm O'Connor in the commentary box to run the rule over both sides.

Kiely is looking towards the end of January as much as next weekend’s Munster League final against Cork.

What is the grist for the mill among the 10 Liam MacCarthy Cup teams in 2020? From Tipperary looking to roll back the years to the 1960s to Cork hoping to avoid the county’s joint-longest stretch without the Liam MacCarthy Cup, there is plenty to go around, writes John Fogarty.

The result, which played out in front of a crowd of 1,628, means the All-Ireland champions cannot now progress to the decider.