Jarlath Fallon confirmed to manager John O'Mahony last week that he is making himself fully available to Galway's footballers. This ends speculation that the talented 25-year-old Tuam player would concentrate on a rugby career in the wake of the county's All-Ireland success over Kildare.

"We're not making a big thing out of it," according to O'Mahony. "After the All-Ireland I wanted to give everyone time and space and the matter was never discussed. Last week we had a chat and the fact that it's been such a successful year for him I think helped make up his mind. He's going to be available to us from now on."

News of Fallon's renewed commitment ends a good week for the county's footballers. On Sunday, the All-Ireland champions won a thrilling NFL match against Donegal in Tuam and made it two wins out of two. That night the draw for next year's Connacht championship placed the holders on the less competitive side of the draw, with London and Sligo barring the way to the provincial final.

O'Mahony was reluctant to comment on the view that Galway had got the easier side of the Connacht draw. Recalling that when he led Leitrim to their historic provincial success four years ago, the county had to emerge from the hardest possible draw: matches against Roscommon, Galway and Mayo.

"This is it," he says. "Leitrim had a hard draw and this year Galway had a hard year. Any draw is littered with tripwires and this is no different. People will have this worked out on paper and will see Galway in next year's final.

"But it's dangerous. The record of Galway-Sligo in the 1990s shows as much. It ended in a draw in two years, including 1995 (when Galway won Connacht). I wouldn't discount London because they're going to trip someone up at some stage."

For all O'Mahony's characteristic caution, the facts indicate that Galway have avoided Roscommon (who took Galway to a replay in this year's Connacht final), Mayo and Leitrim - all provincial champions this decade.

So far the league campaign has gone perfectly. A huge win over Leitrim was followed by Sunday's victory over Donegal at a packed Tuam.

"The next challenge is to keep it going into the new year," says O'Mahony. "It's always a problem if a team is going well up to the break - you don't know how they're going to get on after Christmas. Even if we do break with full points, there's still four matches to come."

O'Mahony also revealed that for the first time in 10 years as an inter-county manager, his team has more matches at home than away.

Galway's plans for the rest of the League centre on retaining their first division status rather than reaching the later stages.

"It's nice to win the League but it's more important to be able to play top teams in competitive matches," he says.

Meanwhile the fixtures as drawn for next summer's championship have to be organised into dates and venues. This is particularly pressing as the draw took place about three weeks later than usual and next year's calendars and diaries have to go to print soon.

Provincial officers will organise their own championships, but RTE and Croke Park will have a co-ordinating role in scheduling matches for maximum television impact.

One RTE source made the point that to maximise impact, the GAA should look at staging matches on different days. "If you look at Sky Sports, you can see the idea came from America to stage a big match on the Monday and broadcast it live. Sky did the same and Australian Rules have also followed suit. It makes no sense to play a number of high profile fixtures on the same day. The difference with the GAA is that the Sunday game is a very traditional event and change doesn't come easily."

It is expected that the schedule for the championships will be finalised within the next week.

The appointment of Brian Cody as the new manager of the Kilkenny hurling team was confirmed last night. He received the support of delegates at a meeting of the County Board.

"I see it as a real challenge which I'm looking forward to. I'm excited about getting in there and working with the players, " said the fourtimes All-Ireland medal winner.