S(ave) O(ur) S(eason) - One episode in and the worst is being feared

Tommy Walsh has likened the new championship format to Game of Thrones. Brendan Cummins described it “rats-in-a-barrel” stuff. One episode in and already the worst is being feared. Taking Walsh’s analogy, Tipperary and Clare are, spoiler alert, Ned Starks in the making.

The man walking down the street in Thurles yesterday morning, as Cummins imagined, has all but written off his team.

Neither played at home on Sunday (all four victors in the provinces this past weekend were the home side) and are just a quarter of the way through their campaigns but the die might as well be cast given some of the commentary of their defeats. As new as this is, the old knock-out mentality is a difficult one to shrug off.