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

Galway captain Shane Walsh says the Tribesmen are revelling in their new attacking game-plan under Padraic Joyce.

Two east Cork clubs will be involved in the All Ireland club finals on Saturday week in a Croke Park double header after Russell Rovers got the better of Micheál Breathnach

Galway GAA treasurer Mike Burke says the county’s finances are now stable after two tough years, and he insists neither the county football nor hurling teams were ever left wanting when it came to funding.

Anything less than All-Ireland glory for the Galway footballers in 2020 “will be seen as an underachievement”, new manager Padraic Joyce has insisted.

Hurling clubs in Galway will meet later this week to start the process again of coming with a manager to lead the senior team in 2020 after all three nominated to succeed Micheál Donoghue withdrew their names.

From having three candidates for the senior hurling manager’s position last week, Galway GAA may have none by this weekend after Tony Ward removed himself from the race.

The former Mayo manager had been strongly linked to the Galway vacancy but has confirmed to Declan Bonner he will be remaining on with the Ulster champions next season.

John Fogarty asks what previous All-Ireland final replays can tell us about Saturday’s game?

Despite Declan Bonner’s ratification as Donegal manager for 2020, his head coach Stephen Rochford is believed to be a live candidate to replace Kevin Walsh as Galway senior football manager.

Walsh described the role as "an honour and a privilege":

It sounded like a parting shot as Kevin Walsh hit out at those who have depicted his tactics as ‘negative’.

As a referee, there are games you look at and are so glad that you aren’t involved in. Mayo-Galway on Saturday night was as difficult a match to officiate as you can get.

It’s a talent in itself that James Horan can come across as offended even in triumph.

James Horan believes Kerry won’t care about his remark that his Mayo team should have beaten them by 12 points in March’s Division 1 final.

Collateral damage or a typically tigerish season? This evening’s all-or-nothing duel with a county they have not beaten in five league and championship games will go a long way to defining Mayo’s 2019.

For the second week in a row — and still a week out from the Super 8s — we face into an exciting and unpredictable weekend of football with plenty of questions to be answered by the protagonists.

Three Sundays ago, at the midpoint of a Connacht SFC final nobody was loving too much, you could have forgiven Galway manager Kevin Walsh a micro-breath of presumptuous relief: his side leading by five, at home, the expectation was they would consolidate their advantage — albeit in monsoon conditions — and reclaim the provincial title.

Cork have shaken things up for their first ever senior hurling championship fixture against Westmeath, with five changes from the side that lost to Clare in their final round-robin game in Munster.

Former Galway footballer Seán Óg de Paor does not expect Kevin Walsh to abandon his favoured defensive approach in tomorrow’s season-defining clash with neighbours Mayo.

Former Roscommon goalkeeper Shane Curran is adamant Dublin having two Super 8 games in Croke Park is “not right or fair” but he doesn’t expect his county to contest it.

Some years some titles should be valued that bit more than usual, having been that bit harder earned.

A most stunning comeback by Roscommon, matched by an equally stunning collapse from Galway.

The Connacht senior football championship is “as hard as any province to win”, according to Galway manager Kevin Walsh.

Galway and Roscommon have named their started XVs for Sunday's Connacht SFC final.

This Galway football team has yet to fulfil its potential, according to half-back Gary O’Donnell.

Roscommon’s Conor Devaney thinks his side have no hope of claiming a second Connacht title in three years if they repeat the performance they produced against Mayo in Galway on Sunday.

In his 10 years as an inter-county manager, Kevin Walsh has never known anything like the “relentless” spate of injuries which have plagued the Galway squad this season.

Galway captain Damien Comer has been ruled out of Sunday’s Connacht SFC final against Roscommon.

A second win in a fortnight, another performance that didn’t reach the heights of 2018 and a nasty injury have given Kevin Walsh plenty to ponder as this win over Sligo qualifies Galway for the Connacht final.

Last summer Galway provided us with a 21-point spread against Sligo. Yesterday, a spirited and youthful Sligo team managed to keep the score respectable for the majority of the game.

Martin Farragher came off the bench to score 1-1 in his inter-county debut as holders Galway beat Sligo at Markievicz Park to book their place in another Connacht final.

Three officers of the Glanmire Ladies Gaelic Football Club have had their 24-month suspensions for bringing the LGFA into disrepute overturned by the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA).

Selling Christy Ryan the idea of being interviewed is as entertaining as the official chat itself.

As the championship has now officially thrown in, we’re sure to get another barrage of negative commentary about the inequality of the inter-county football showpiece competition in the coming weeks, as top tier teams devour some of the also-rans.

Galway endured an uncomfortable afternoon in Ruislip as a gutsy London side make the Connacht champions work hard for their victory.

A very safe presumption to make would be that Damien Comer has much fonder memories of his last trip to Ruislip than Galway manager Kevin Walsh.

Longing — wrote Don DeLilo in his opus Underworld — on a large scale, makes history.

Former Galway United player Padraic Cunningham is among three Championship debutants for Galway's Connacht SFC quarter-final this weekend.

Galway manager Kevin Walsh believes that the depth developed in the squad during an injury-stricken league campaign will stand to them as they face into the championship without several key players.

Galway’s tortuous search for a balance between defensive security and offensive potency took a painful hit as they missed out on a place in the Division One league final.

Beyond Liam Silke and All-Star Ian Burke, former Galway football manager Tomás Ó Flatharta believes the leading figures from Corofin’s back-to-back All-Ireland-winning side will struggle to break onto Kevin Walsh’s Galway team.

We live in interesting times. Usually, we are bombarded by the noise and criticisms around the state of Gaelic football, but such assaults seem to have been silenced in recent weeks.

Galway midfielder Ciarán Duggan believes the squad is stronger than last year as more fringe players are coming through to make their mark.