LEINSTER
Dublin
Manager: Humphrey Kelleher (first year)
Titles: Leinster 23 (1961), All-Ireland 6 (1938).
Last year: Lost Leinster semi-final to Kilkenny 0-10 to 3-16, lost All-Ireland Qualifier first round to Offaly 1-14 to 1-20.
NHL position: Third Group Two, Division One.
Dublin have inverted their usual approach to the hurling year with a season that has picked up as it proceeded. Retaining Division One status was important and the big win over (an admittedly injury-ravaged) Offaly good for morale. Now comes the hard part.
The team have a handy path to the Leinster semi-final, even if Westmeath did trouble them for a spell last year. Laois or Offaly would then be the barrier to a provincial final. Whereas Dublin couldn't have a better draw they would hardly be favourites playing either of the midland counties.
Solid in defence - with Conal Keaney drifting towards what many regard as his optimal position of centre back - and at centrefield, but doubts remain about the capacity of the forwards to impose themselves consistently on matches.
Kilkenny
Manager: Brian Cody (sixth year).
Titles: Leinster 61 (holders), All-Ireland 28 (holders).
Last year: Leinster and All-Ireland champions.
NHL position: First Group Two, Division One.
Appetite remains the biggest imponderable, but there are also other concerns. For the first time since the start of the winning run two years ago, there isn't the same sense of players pushing plausibly for first-team places.
The mediocre league campaign was to be expected given that the team were running out of puff even by the end of last season. But individual performances of key players have been patchy, despite the occasional tour de force from Henry Shefflin, with last year's full-forward line disrupted by poor form and injury.
Brian Hogan is showing well for a place in defence after a good club campaign with O'Loughlin Gaels. The three-in-a-row challenge has defeated Kilkenny throughout the past nine decades. A powerful incentive to claim a place in history, but also a daunting hurdle.
Laois
Manager: Paudie Butler (second year).
Titles: Leinster 3 (1949), All-Ireland 1 (1915).
Last year: Lost Leinster preliminary final replay to Dublin 0-15 to 3-11 (2-15 to 1-18 draw) and lost All-Ireland qualifier first round to Tipperary 0-13 to 3-28.
NHL position: Second Group Two, Division One.
After the disappointment of last year's championship, Laois have had a good season. Consistently competitive in the league, with the exception of the match lost to eventual winners Galway, Paudie Butler's team have embarked on the championship with plenty of confidence.
A thumping win over Carlow with another likely this weekend against Meath moves them towards a big clash with neighbours Offaly, whom they relegated last month. That could be the gateway to a Leinster final. Have combined athleticism with the usual physical strength and have troubled good teams so far.
Offaly
Manager: Michael McNamara (second year).
Titles: Leinster 9 (1995), All-Ireland 4 (1998).
Last year: Lost Leinster semi-final to Wexford 1-12 to 0-16, lost All-Ireland quarter-final to Tipperary 2-11 to 2-16.
NHL position: Sixth Group Two, Division One and relegated.
The unfortunate league relegation disaster isn't preying on Michael McNamara's mind as much as his spectacular injury-list. The biggest concern is Rory Hannify whose cruciate strain will keep him out for at least six weeks, but he might be available for the Leinster final.
Brian Whelahan only gets the plaster off a broken thumb the day before the likely meeting with Laois. Up to 12 of the panel - at one time - have been injured in recent weeks, making the seasonal hurling practice difficult to organise.
At full strength, Offaly would have to be short favourites to reach the Leinster final. Were they to slip too far from the optimum selection, nothing can be taken for granted, as the NHL proved.
Wexford
Manager: John Conran (second year).
Titles: Leinster 18 (1997), All-Ireland 6 (1996).
Last year: Lost Leinster final to Kilkenny 2-12 to 2-23, lost All-Ireland semi-final replay to Cork 2-7 to 3-17 (3-17/2-20 draw).
NHL position: Fourth Group Two, Division One.
All the noises emanating from Wexford recently may not substantiate the rumours of a panel in turmoil, but neither have they painted a particularly happy picture.
The sequence of departures this spring has been largely of peripheral figures, with Darren Stamp the only established player to withdraw. League displays were poor and did little in the way of uncovering fresh talent to supplement the championship challenge, particularly in attack where some impetus is needed.
Injuries should clear before the championship, but with Kilkenny first up, there's an added pall of gloom over the South East. Of consolation is the fact that turbulence doesn't always affect Wexford adversely, but with their defence weakened by the retirement of Liam Dunne and the poor form of recent weeks the county have it all to do to emulate last year's top-four finish.
Meath
Manager: John Hunt (first year).
Titles: Leinster none, All-Ireland none.
Last year: Lost Leinster preliminary round to Carlow 2-10 to 0-17.
NHL position: Fifth Group One, Division Two.
Slippage continues apace. Uncompetitive against the best teams in Division Two, they now face in Laois a competitive Division One side with only one likely outcome in prospect.
Westmeath
Manager: Tom Ryan (first year).
Titles: Leinster none, All-Ireland none.
Last year: Lost Leinster preliminary semi-final to Dublin 1-12 to 2-12, lost All-Ireland Qualifier preliminary round to Kerry 0-13 to 3-15.
NHL position: First Group One Division Two, defeated divisional finalists.
Last weekend's massive defeat by Down in the Division Two final was a big setback in the middle of the championship campaign. Tom Ryan will have been frustrated by the wild shooting that helped squander a cracking start. But Westmeath's form has been better and they should proceed to a qualifier eliminator.
Kildare
Manager: Morgan Lawler (second year).
Titles: Leinster none, All-Ireland none.
Last year: Lost Leinster preliminary round to Westmeath 0-7 to 2-15
NHL position: Fourth, Division Two.
A mediocre season in Division Two ended in the lower group. This weekend's meeting is with last year's conquerors Westmeath. Twelve months ago Westmeath emphatically overturned an earlier league defeat whereas this time around Kildare were narrowly beaten by ambitious opponents. Need to distribute Tom Carew's scoring burden.
MUNSTER
Clare
Manager: Anthony Daly (first year).
Titles: Munster 5 (1998), All-Ireland 3 (1997).
Last year: Lost Munster semi-final to Cork 0-10 to 1-18, lost All-Ireland Qualifier second round to Galway 1-17 to 1-18.
NHL position: Third Group One, Division One.
Anthony Daly's coming as manager has so far brought about just what the county had hoped. A vigorous league campaign allowed him to try out some new players and the veterans have responded well to the appointment of their old captain. The bulk of the newcomers are in defence so improvisation has been needed in attack, the perennial problem area. Frank Lohan could have done with extra match-practice at full forward, but injury interfered. Colin Lynch has played well at centre forward, but looked less effective against the touch hurling of Brian Whelahan in a challenge match. But how many centre backs that technically assured is he going to meet?
The problem may come if Ollie Baker finds it difficult to put in a full championship match. Will Lynch not be needed back at the ranch? Will Brian Lohan's hamstring right itself? And, overall, there is a lack of innovation in attack.Still, they're playing with spirit and won't fear anyone in Munster.
Cork
Manager: Donal O'Grady (second year).
Titles: Munster 47 (holders), All-Ireland 28 (1999).
Last year: Munster champions, lost All-Ireland final to Kilkenny 1-11 to 1-14.
NHL position: Sixth Group One, Division One.
Having established a platform last year, the team would be expected to kick on this season, but Donal O'Grady has weathered a couple of blows with the departure of Setanta Ó hAilpín and the injury to Pat Mulcahy. John Browne is back, but isn't deemed ready yet to slot into the full-back line whereas the jury's still out on Brian Corcoran's return, which holds out promise of remedying the gap at the other end of the field. But only back hurling a couple of months he has a lot of ground to make up before lining out in the championship.
The appeal of Corcoran at full forward is there is no obvious alternative as a target man with Ó hAilpín gone and Eamonn Collins struggling to rediscover form after his lengthy injury lay-off.
Having weathered the first phase of the league in good shape despite fielding experimental teams, Cork have some thinking to do now that most of the first-choice players are again available, but are not all in the best of form. Newcomer Jonathan O'Callaghan has scored well through the NHL but concerns about his ball-winning capacity in the championship may have prompted the move to the corner. In pole position, but plenty to sort out if they are to fulfil expectations in Munster at least.
Kerry
Manager: Maurice Leahy (second year).
Titles: Munster 1 (1891), All-Ireland 1 (1891).
Last year: Lost Munster first round to Waterford 1-12 to 2-26, lost All-Ireland Qualifier first round to Limerick 1-14 to 0-24.
NHL position: Third Group One, Division One.
What happened Kerry? After a fine season last year, culminating in reaching the qualifier series proper where they put up a good show against Limerick, Kerry followed through with a storming first phase of the league - with John Mike Dooley's scoring exploits earning a player of the month award - but the obligation to go to Down for the third year running seemed to unhinge them and they plummeted to a heavy defeat, and went down at home to Westmeath.
At last month's Congress county chairman Seán Walsh openly anticipated a whacking from Cork. His forebodings look spot on.
Limerick
Manager: Pad Joe Whelehan (first year).
Titles: Munster 17 (1996), All-Ireland 7 (1973).
Last year: Lost Munster semi-final replay to Waterford 0-13 to 1-12 (4-13/4-13 draw), lost All-Ireland Qualifier second round to Offaly 0-14 to 1-18.
NHL position: Fifth Group One, Division One.
Pad Joe Whelehan becomes the third manager in successive years to take on the task of turning all that under-21 promise into something tangible at senior level. The league was an extended tale of woe. Although the team managed to make it to the top group of Division One, they were poor in many matches over the whole campaign.
That won't matter if Whelehan knows his team and has managed to time the run for the summer correctly. But his efforts to convert players to the virtues of moving ball quickly look like needing a longer-term time-frame than this season and, despite a robust win over Kilkenny in a recent challenge, which impressed onlookers, there's too much uncertainty over key areas of the team.
Will have the advantage of surprise against Cork, but will need more than that.
Tipperary
Manager: Ken Hogan (first year).
Titles: Munster 37 (2001), All-Ireland 25 (2001).
Last year: Lost Munster first round to Clare 0-14 to 2-17, lost All-Ireland semi-final to Kilkenny 0-15 to 3-18.
NHL position: Fourth Group One, Division One.
Tipp had a settled campaign, but not a terribly exciting one for supporters. Defence benefited from the return of Philip Maher after injury and Paul Curran from abroad. Elsewhere there were experiments.
Declan Fanning has been entrusted with the troublesome centre-back role, but awaits a full road test after a satisfactory league campaign. Otherwise, there are problems. Paul Kelly's form has faded of late and of the forwards only Eoin Kelly - a likely full forward starter - and Benny Dunne are reliably scoring.
Ken Hogan can be relieved that all of the Munster competitors are also suffering disruption and questionable form within their attacks. The draw leaves them awaiting the winners of tomorrow's Clare-Waterford clash, a disadvantage for a team unsure of its best configuration.
Waterford
Manager: Justin McCarthy (second year).
Titles: Munster 6 (2002), All-Ireland 2 (1959).
Last year: Lost Munster final to Cork 3-12 to 3-16, lost All-Ireland Qualifier second round to Wexford 0-18 to 1-20.
NHL position: First Group One, Division One and defeated finalists.
After last weekend's ghastly display in the league final, Waterford's greatest asset in their inconsistency. Capable of following a brilliant performance by going flat, Justin McCarthy's men need to reverse that sort of sequence.
There may have to be question-marks over the redeployment of Ken McGrath to half back even if there have been retirement losses in defence and the expectation is he will relocate to the attack.
The full-back line has been causing jitters and last week's switch of Eoin McGrath to corner back failed to have the desired effect. Overshadowing all of this is how Waterford react to the league defeat. A year ago they were furious after drawing with Limerick and raised their game for the replay.
But even if they do manage to bounce back this time, the road ahead in Munster is too hard to imagine them reeling off the three performances necessary.
ULSTER
Antrim
Manager: Dinny Cahill (third year).
Titles: Ulster 44 (holders), All-Ireland none.
Last year: Ulster champions, lost All-Ireland quarter-final to Wexford 2-12 to 2-15.
NHL position: Fifth Group Two, Division One.
At the start of the season, survival in Division One would have been considered a reasonable return for Antrim given the Dunloy players were missing. In the event it wasn't a particularly inspiring achievement and there are signs that the team are struggling to maintain the momentum of recent seasons.
The rise of Down may be the stimulus the side needs to restore focus.Under Dinny Cahill, they have always been more of a summer team and with a settled side, remain the province's team to beat.
Derry
Manager: Seán McCloskey (first year).
Titles: Ulster 4 (2001), All-Ireland none.
Last year: Lost Ulster final to Antrim 1-12 to 3-21, lost All-Ireland Qualifier round to Kerry 1-16 to 2-15.
NHL position: Fifth Division Two A.
Things have gone pear shaped in Derry remarkably quickly. It was always likely there'd be slippage after the once-in-a-century highs of a couple of years ago, particularly with the departure of significant players.
There is speculation that Geoffrey McGonigle might return, but Derry have gone from honourable All-Ireland quarter-final defeats to the prospect of losing to London.
Down
Manager: John Crossey (first year).
Titles: Ulster 3 (1997), All-Ireland none.
Last year: Lost Ulster semi-final to Antrim 2-12 to 0-21.
NHL position: Second Group One, Division Two and divisional winners.
Their emergence last weekend with an emphatic Division Two final victory is just what the Ulster championship needs.
The performances of Paul Braniff and Gareth Johnson at the spine of the attack have been very encouraging and represent the team's strong point, but Gary Savage also weighed in, providing a gritty presence in the defence. With confidence flowing, they are certain Ulster finalists and pose a real threat to Antrim.
London
Manager: Ambrose Gordon (first year).
Titles: Ulster none, All-Ireland 1 (1901).
Last year: Lost Ulster first round to Antrim 1-5 to 8-27
NHL position: Didn't compete in regulation stages, but beat Mayo in Division Two play-off
There has been a revival of sorts in London with the team anxious to re-join the NHL next year. The revival will need to be startling because London have been the least competitive aspect of either of the senior championships in recent years.
This time they are hoping to include a couple of familiar names, including Teu Ó hAilpín, back from the US, and Kilkenny's Mickey Gordon who played Fitzgibbon with UCD a couple of years ago. Hopes are high of a win given the state of Derry.
New York
Manager: Monty Moloney (first year).
Titles: Ulster none, All-Ireland none
Last year: Lost Ulster semi-final to Antrim 1-10 to 0-15.
NHL position: Did not enter.
Have been competitive in recent years, but have had the ill luck to draw a very upbeat Down side and, despite home advantage, will be expected to take the curtain next weekend.
- By Seán Moran
