Cork and Tipperary will open next year's championship in Munster after being drawn in the preliminary round. This last happened in 2010 and Tipperary, although beaten by 10 points, went on to win that year's All-Ireland.
The winners will face Limerick whereas on the other side Clare take on Waterford.
In Leinster All-Ireland champions Kilkenny have been drawn on the more demanding side. Having received a bye into the semi-finals as reigning champions, Brian Cody's team will face Wexford or Dublin.
Irish Times hurling analyst Nicky English questioned the status of the Munster championship when reviewing the draw.
“For me, you’d wonder just how excited you can get about the Munster draw when you bear in mind how poor the record of the provincial winners in the All-Ireland has been. It will be 11 years since Munster champions went on to lift Liam MacCarthy. Both Tipperary and Clare have won the All-Ireland through the qualifiers in that time and both years they beat the Munster champions along the way.
“The other worrying statistic for Cork and Tipperary is that no team has made it through the three matches on the long side of the draw (having to play a quarter-final against one of the established hurling counties - it’s happened a couple of times in years when Kerry were involved) to win an All-Ireland since Cork in 1966.
“That first semi-final is a big game for me. Clare could end up in more trouble if they lose their first championship game for the fourth year running whereas it would be a big setback for Waterford’s ambitions if they got beaten that early.
"The Leinster draw has thrown up a big game for Dublin and Wexford in the quarter-final and it will be a big incentive for Galway to get their act together, as they're on the less demanding side of the draw but similarly it's a big incentive for the other counties on that side if they don't.
“Laois, Westmeath and Offaly have all given Galway decent games in recent years and it was a sign of Galway’s improvement this year when they emphatically beat Laois.”
On Thursday Galway's Management Committee released a statement, relating to the impasse between manager Anthony Cunningham and the players, saying that it had "decided to seek an independent mediator, in order to resolve this impasse," adding that the committee would "do all in its power to bring this matter to a positive conclusion, as quickly as possible."
The urgency with which Clare manager David Fitzgerald views the coming season may have been indicated in reports from the Clare Champion that he is thought likely to revise his policy on dual players to allow former All Star Podge Collins to hurl with the county, while continuing to play football.
