Time to grasp nettle of Dubs’ Croker residency

“Parents are less likely to pack the kids into the car or onto the train to see their lot mauled in Croke Park, but a big game ‘down the road’ would get a greater footfall from the regions" writes Brendan O’Brien

You gotta love this time of year. Summer’s a comin’ and dreams of long and languid days sprinkled with shimmering heatwaves have yet to be washed away by the misery of another rained-out season and the same dispiriting fate has yet to befall the giddy ambitions of provincial or All-Ireland glory for all but a handful of counties.

Leinster is front and centre as the ball gets rolling this weekend – all due respect to events in Gaelic Park, New York a fortnight ago – with Offaly welcoming Longford to Tullamore, Carlow’s Netwatch Cullen Park the venue for the Barrowsiders’ get-to with the lads from across the border in Laois and Drogheda the location for the meeting of Louth and Westmeath.