Finals uncertainty, high hopes for football and Kilkenny's ruthlessness

The sun was shining over the weekend and so was the action in the Allianz football leagues – the question now is, will it be a pre-cursor to free-flowing games for the rest of the summer?

Looking back on all the weekend League action, Dick Clerkin, John Mullane and Martin Breheny joined Will Slattery and Michael Verney for this week’s episode of the Throw-In.

While the uncertainty of whether the Division 1 and 3 finals will take place - in addition to the Division 2 and 4 finals not happening at all - has put a bit of a cloud over the conclusion to the Leagues, there are still so many sub-plots and tantalising prospects for what’s to come.

Dublin are still ahead of the rest while Kerry have their many doubters, but elsewhere, Ulster football has been going through something of a character change with high scores and not a blanket defence to be seen.

“I think a lot of it's to do with the sense of God with everything that's gone on over the last year and a half, let's go out and play a bit of football, a bit of positivity,” says Dick Clerkin. “It’s bad enough playing negative, bland football in front of crowds and TVs, it's actually soul-destroying doing it in empty stands when there might not be much to play for. So I think it's not a coincidence that you're seeing a lot of this positivity coming right across the country.”

In hurling, the only game was Kilkenny’s ten-point demolition of Wexford which left more question marks over Davey Fitzgerald’s project and whether Wexford can go any further.

But Brian Cody has shown that the Cats have lost none of their ruthlessness and attitude and Mullane and Breheny also point to Cork’s resurgence, especially with Donal O’Grady joining the backroom team.

The Leagues might be coming to an end but they’ve thrown up plenty to ponder for the approaching Championship.

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www.independent.ie/podcasts/the-throw-in/

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