Who will end up in exile after these Napoleonic battles?

When it comes to evaluating campaigns, only one authority is really worth consulting.

No-one is comparing Páirc Uí Chaoimh to Borodino or the Gaelic Grounds to Smolensk — not yet, anyway — but Napoleon’s lengthy round-robin tour of Russia a couple of centuries ago remains the benchmark for the long-term mission which encounters plenty of challenges along the way.

The principles remain constant and recognisable to the hurling managers waking up this morning to look at the championships at a rough halfway point: when Bonaparte said a leader has to be a dealer in hope, this is the juncture he meant.