THERE WAS only one thing missing as the weekend's final series of National Hurling League matches concluded in the blistering heat that has characterised the first season of the calendar year experiment. Given that the whole exercise has proved so successful, it was a pity that there weren't more vital issues at stake going into the last day.

This was unfortunate in the case of Division One where the League's top heavy structure means that only one team - whoever comes sixth, in this case Offaly - is left unaffected at the end of the regulation matches.

With such a range of options open to teams - three are relegated and four advance to play offs - it might have been expected that there would be more to play For at the season's end. That there wasn't was partly due to a recurring phenomenon, the inability of one team in Division One (Laois, this year) to resemble anything other than dead ducks from the first throw in of the competition.

Laois will probably bounce back for promotion next year, making it five years of alternating like a yo-yo between the first and second flights. This is a process greatly encouraged by the three up, three down system of promotion and relegation between the two divisions.

It is a subject on which the GAA is increasingly hearing dissent, largely born of frustrations felt by teams too good for Division Two and not good enough for Division One. Whereas such frustration has all fur sympathy, it's as well not to lose track of the purpose behind this generous access/eggress policy.

In allowing three teams into the top divsion, the GAA intended to distribute the benefits of such status to as many counties is possible and the idea has worked with Down and Kerry both getting a go at Divsion One hurling in recent years.

The downside for those teams, and even others of more middling rank, is that having lambered up the greasy pole, their chances of avoiding one of three relegation spots a year later are minimal.

This problem raises a couple of questions: one, is it actually of any help to teams to spend a season being tortured by their fetters and two, if so, how can the current system be improved?

Let's assume the answer to the first question is yes because neither Down nor Kerry were anything other than delighted with the experience. To an extent this flies in the face of evidence which shows that Down, having lost their place in Division One weren't long falling back a stage further. This season, they have failed to secure promotion at the first attempt - the surest way of leaving the division.

Kerry also tumbled from the top division last year and very nearly emulated Down's grim example by staying out of Division Three on the basis of a better scoring average than Westmeath's.

It's quite possible that the erosion of morale consequent on constant failure is more far reaching than the benefits of playing competitive matches against good teams. This is emphasised during the calendar year season as less advanced team don't even have the balancing advantage of slower pitches.

The crux of this problem is finding a way that will allow teams that are unused to summer hurling - at any level - acquire quality experience on hard, fast grounds.

One solution might be organising the NHL on a two year basis with cumulative assessment governing promotion and relegation. This would allow the promoted teams two full seasons at the top and would contribute more to their development. The disadvantage would be a certain stagnation with no movement between the divisions.

A more realistic option would be the expansion of the first division to 12 teams. This would provide extra matches and eliminate the need for such a high turnover of promotion and relegation every year.

There would be some complaints about finding extra dates on an already crowded calendar, but by dropping the quarterfinals and semifinals and playing the final between the highest two finishers, a couple of extra days could be recovered.

A 12 county first division would make more sense as the second division has always been divided equally into one group of teams who alternate with the higher division and another whose level would be closer to Division Three.

This would also make the summer NHL even more useful as championship preparation for teams. At present, two of the promoted teams, Dublin and Cork, carry a disadvantage into their respective provincial championship semifinals. Neither will have experienced anything like the intense standard of hurling in Division One and the step up will be tricky.

Mike Houlihan, Limerick's centrefielder, made the point after his county's successful opening defence of their Munster title against Waterford. "Some of the League games we played this year were as hard as that out there today," he said.

If his tone was one of surprise, it was misplaced - Limerick's League matches, in particular, have been played with razor sharp competitiveness but it is beginning to dawn on people that this year's NHL bears a far closer resemblance to the championship than has ever been the case.

The irony of the situation is that one of the calendar year's raisons d'etre was the promotion of the game and assisting counties whose acquaintance with summer hurling had generally been confined to short championship runs of 70 minutes.

The evidence of the NHL to date, however, is that the counties who have taken it most seriously are the traditional powers. Into the knockout stages are Cork, Tipperary and Kilkenny and their latter day companions in privilege, Galway. Of the aspiring powers, only Limerick and Dublin have joined the party.

This has to be seen in the context of the stages of development of the various teams. Cork at the moment are obviously not as advanced a team as relegated Clare.

This conjunction of League and championship is at too early a stage for any hard conclusions to be drawn but in the future, it may prove very difficult for teams to mount a serious championship challenge from Division Two.

If, or when, that implication becomes clearer, the prospect of relegation will concentrate minds a lot more frantically than appears to have been the case this season.