GAA:Dublin still have the option of ending their football league fixtures where they began and playing their final-round game against Kerry in Croke Park.

At this stage the game remains scheduled for Parnell Park on Sunday week, and looks set to stay there, although the county board will review the situation after this weekend's penultimate round, which will either raise or lower the stakes of that game.

If Dublin produce a win over Mayo in Castlebar on Sunday, and Kerry do likewise over Tyrone in Tralee on Saturday evening, then their final-round clash in Division One A will effectively become a contest to make the semi-finals. That could be enough to convince the county board to switch it to Croke Park, despite the limited timeframe for ticket sales and publicity.

"As of now, the game against Kerry on Sunday week is in Parnell Park," said Dublin county board chairman Gerry Harrington. "But, no, we still haven't ruled out a potential switch to Croke Park at this stage. But the fact is we're not looking any further than this Sunday's game against Mayo in Castlebar. That's all we're concerned about at the moment.

"What we will do is look at the situation again on Monday. Obviously, our final game against Kerry will need to have some added meaning, some added purpose, but we're not going to pre-empt any of that at this stage."

Dublin attracted a sell-out crowd of 82,000 into Croke Park for their opening round of the league against Tyrone back on the Saturday evening of February 3rd, a record attendance for a regular league fixture.

However, that was heavily publicised for weeks in advance and also marked the first floodlight game played in Croke Park.

Last week GAA president Nickey Brennan confirmed that Croke Park would be made available to Dublin if they wanted it, and that ultimately any decision to play there would be up to the county board.

Ideally that would have been decided by now, although Harrington wasn't concerned about the limited time for planning and ticket distribution.

"There would be enough time," he added, "in that with Ticketmaster and that the whole thing could be up and running within a few days. It would really be just a matter of rubber-stamping the fixture. So potentially it is still on, but the other thing we may be examining on Monday is whether or not to make that final game against Kerry in Parnell Park an all-ticket affair."

In other words, if both Dublin and Kerry lose this weekend then their league campaign is as good as over. Division One A has proven tight, with the exception of Donegal, who are unbeaten in five games and practically assured of their semi-final place.

Elsewhere there is still plenty of room for shake-up in the final two rounds: Fermanagh are poised for relegation, and if Tyrone lose to Kerry on Saturday they could still be in danger of joining them given their negative points difference.

Division One B has proven even tighter, with only three points separating the top seven. The only thing that looks certain there is that Down will be relegated, with Kildare, Laois, Galway and Westmeath all still in the hunt for the semi-finals.

Sunday's final round of the National Hurling League is just as tight - with most teams depending on results elsewhere to determine their fate. The winners of Division One A and One B go straight into the semi-finals, with the second and third placed teams playing quarter-finals to decide who will join them.

If the Dublin hurlers do make the play-offs they could get to play in Croke Park sooner than expected, with the county board also open to the use of GAA headquarters on that occasion.

"The situation is a little different with the hurlers, for obvious reasons," said Harrington.

"Again our only focus right now is the next game against Antrim. But even if we did make the quarter-finals or semi-finals the matter of the venue is out of our hands. It's a decision for the Competitions Control Committee. But if we do make the play-offs we'd be delighted to play that game anywhere. In fairness, the Dublin hurlers have been getting some good support in recent weeks, and there was a good show in Limerick last Sunday. Hopefully, that will continue for these last two games, and keep going long after that."

The suggestion was also made yesterday that if the Dublin hurlers make the quarter-finals, also scheduled for Sunday week, and the Dublin-Kerry game in Croke Park is still a runner, then a double-bill at Croke Park could be considered.