The fixture attracting attention this weekend is in Galway. It’s not so much to do with its importance to either team – Cork v Clare has more long-term significance – but rather the meeting of the two men most associated with the greatest era in Kilkenny’s history.
It's not easy for Henry Shefflin to turn up against Brian Cody and Kilkenny and plot the downfall of his county and club-mates but that's not how he's framing it to himself. He has to prepare a team for a big match.
I have reservations about this focus, anyway. In my experience managers hardly ever get worked up about who’s down the line from them. There’s too much to be done to get your own team right and performing and after that, concern about how the opposition are playing to be getting anxious about what the other manager’s up to.
The Shefflin-driven work ethic will still be there but the question is that when the going gets tough, can they find the leadership?
That's especially true in Salthill on Sunday. Henry Shefflin has a lot on his plate between the injury to Conor Whelan and trying to resolve the systems failure that cost them a win in Wexford, whereas Brian Cody knows that a win here is a significant step to retaining the Leinster title.
I was impressed by Galway in that opening match up until about 10 minutes from the end. It started to unravel when Whelan got injured and Joseph Cooney failed to complete a goalscoring move. From then on, it was old Galway – a bit disjointed and leaderless.
Now, worry persists over how to replace their marquee forward. That doesn’t mean that all of the improvements have vanished. The Shefflin-driven work ethic will still be there but the question is that when the going gets tough, can they find the leadership?
It was Joe Canning who led the revival last year against Waterford but he's retired. Who steps up?
Work rate
The big question on the other side is whether Kilkenny are actually improved on last year. They did find a very good defender in Mikey Butler but everywhere else it all looks a bit more of the same, even if shuffled around the place.
Their forwards look no less interchangeable than they did last year and TJ Reid will be needed for 70 minutes. At the same time they came within an ace of getting to the All-Ireland final and there is no doubt that Kilkenny will do exactly what it says on the tin: play to the end and work incredibly hard.
The opening weeks have been very instructive about Munster teams but we’re still on a learning curve in Leinster. Galway and Kilkenny are still the leading teams and we’re about to define the pecking order but I think Dublin can challenge either of them.
We can be sure that Galway are more competitive this year but competitiveness is never an issue for Kilkenny. I’m giving a hesitant vote to Galway because they have home advantage and a good record in these round-robins. If they can’t beat Kilkenny in Galway it’s hard to see them making an impact elsewhere.
I know it was a relatively late fixture but was it strictly necessary to put Cork-Clare on at exactly the same time as the match in Galway? Because of Leinster’s six-team format there aren’t an abundance of competitive fixtures each week and to schedule the two against each other doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Clare hit the ground running last week – literally. They're very athletic with great pace and physique, typified by the return of Peter Duggan and Shane O'Donnell: a huge addition to what they had last year even if unfortunately Aidan McCarthy and Mark Rogers are out for the foreseeable future.
Improved
O’Donnell got the man-of-the-match award last week but it could as easily have been Duggan, who made two goals and scored a third. He also scored two points and got fouled on numerous occasions.
Ryan Taylor also looks improved and Rory Hayes was excellent at corner back. John Conlon was back to his 'monstrous' best – which was when he was winning All Stars at full forward – after the teething pains of adjusting to life at centre back last season as well as recovering from injury.
They exposed Tipperary from the start and maybe it got too easy, too quickly for Clare but I was impressed and not surprised either because they were good last year.
They don't have the best record against Cork and Brian Lohan will be thrilled that Ed Sheeran is in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and his team are in Thurles where they played just a week ago.
Cork are troubled after two very poor performances. I questioned before the first round of the championship whether they could bounce back from the league final defeat in their home venue but Limerick are just about the worst team to be trying to bounce back against.
There’s undoubtedly a better chance of that this weekend but Clare are on the up and Cork have structural issues, which weren’t adequately addressed between the Waterford league final and the Limerick matches.
Will they make necessary changes in the central positions and how quickly can any such changes bed in? I won’t be surprised if Clare build on their performance last week.
Even if they weren’t crippled by injuries Laois would find it hard to beat Wexford. They threw the kitchen sink at Dublin and nearly succeeded so it would have been very disappointing for them. Wexford can’t afford anything to go wrong here nor will it.
Finally Dublin would benefit from building a score against Westmeath – who will fancy a cut at them because traditionally they have been more vulnerable than the Kilkennys and Galways.
Dublin are in pole position to progress after beating Wexford but could do with reducing the reliance on Donal Burke for scores.
