Mick O'Dwyer (Kildare manager)

Thoughts on the Sam Maguire:

"I still think that 1998 was going to be the year that Kildare would make the breakthrough. But we still have a good panel of players and we can compete with the best teams around. I think the standard has evened up a lot but you always need a bit of luck to win the All-Ireland. The same faces do seem to come through but it's going to be another tough championship, especially to win Leinster. Westmeath have improved so much and Longford are a good side as well. There are no weak teams left in Leinster anymore.

"I think Kerry will be there again, and I think Galway will come out again. They are still the two top teams at the moment. We are in contention and I think we'll have another good run this year."

Thoughts on the second chance:

"It is a good system and I think the best team will still win in the end. Take Dublin last year. I certainly wouldn't have liked to have met them again after we beat them. I still think they played one of their best ever 35 minutes of football in the first half, but what happened after that we will never know.

"One year in my time with Kerry we won an All-Ireland by playing three games. That's a crazy system, even though I didn't complain at the time. But I think championship games should be run every two weeks, and run the whole thing off quickly. Start it in May and have the All-Ireland final in August. Give the rest of the time to clubs and that would stop the delays at all levels."

Thoughts on the game in general:

"Well I've said enough about Croke Park. But one rule I would like to see changed is the pickup of the ball off the ground. At least 40 per cent of players pick the ball up during games and are only penalised when it matters most. A clean pick-up from the standing position would improve the game no end. Other than that I think the social end of the game could be improved, at least in getting the two teams together after a match."

Tom Carr (Dublin manager)

Thoughts on the Sam Maguire:

"Injuries are still a problem, especially with the likes of Brian Stynes and Ian Robertson, but you have to concentrate on what you have rather than what you have not. Any manager can use injuries as an excuse but at the end of the day it never is.

"It was a disappointing league but we entered the league with the idea of viewing new players, by design and by circumstance. And it also became a lesson for us in survival. We may look back after the summer and see the win over Galway as the point where our season turned but I don't like to read too much into the league."

Thoughts on the second chance:

"Winning the provincial championship means as much this year as it did any other year. For the big teams that go out in the first round, the chance is there to refocus. But it doesn't affect preparations in any way.

"It's definitely better than what we had. That had run its course and was getting stale and predictable. Whether it's the best system we don't know yet and it may be a step to an even better system.

The way it was, there was far too much time between championship games, sometimes five weeks, and that was way too long. There is a need for more games to develop teams at all levels."

Thoughts on the game in general:

"The referee system can be improved, and I'm not talking about referees individually. A lot of counties now concentrate on skills training because the physical fitness is taken for granted. But I've seen a number of games recently where good tackling has been penalised. You can see frustration on the players because they feel this is the way they were taught how to tackle.

It's difficult on referees, I know, with the pace of the game but it is something that needs to be addressed a little closer."

Brian Canavan (joint Armagh manager)

Thoughts on the Sam Maguire:

"Our team was still young in Croke Park last year, and we haven't lost any of them through retirement. We feel we are equally strong and possibly stronger this year. Ulster is always a minefield and there is the potential to be beaten in every game. We face Tyrone first time out this year and they were doing so well in the league until foot-and-mouth got in the way.

"But no Armagh team has ever won three in a row, and that's something we want to do. It means a lot to win the Ulster title and that's still the best way to getting into a quarter-final."

Thoughts on the second chance:

"There is always the problem that the strong teams will get stronger and the weak teams get weaker. That has happened in hurling. If a team like Kildare are beaten by a team like Carlow then I don't think Carlow would like to meet Kildare again. Once you get to the last eight then you'll be left with the strongest teams, and that will always be a problem for the weaker counties trying to make a breakthrough.

"In our first year coming through, I certainly wouldn't have fancied meeting Derry a second time. If you take hurling in Ulster, I think the standard has gone down because they haven't had the chance to play in All-Ireland semi-finals and get promotion at the high level. That may be something we will have to deal with as we go along."

Thoughts on the game in general:

"Communication is one area that can definitely improve. I sometimes think the mobile phones of Croke Park don't go to the north, they just stop at the border. We are still awaiting the final table from Division Two of the league this year because we felt Armagh had qualified for the semi-finals. The players are asking us why they aren't there even though they had the same number of points and we can't tell them why. I never saw any table to prove it but we never even got a phone call and the whole of Armagh was up in arms."

John O'Mahony (Galway manager)

Thoughts on the Sam Maguire:

"Of course we were disappointed to lose the league final and we realised at that stage that it was going to be one hell of a Connacht championship. But the way Galway people will look at us losing the league will depend on how we do in the championship.

"It has been a unusual season up to now, with the break and then four games in five Sundays. We also got to the league final using a lot of new players, and we have a lot of established players back in contention now. So it's going to be a difficult assignment to get all those pieces right, and we won't be looking past the first game."

Thoughts on the second chance:

"I agree with the new system, especially the way modern sport has gone and all the preparations involved. But it will be a bit of a culture shock to the players and managers, because we are all setting out to win the provincial championship. You use that as a launching pad to later on.

"But if you lose along the way, that usually meant a long break. From a management point of view it probably means using more players. Overall the support is there to go to the extra games but they won't all be as tension-filled as before. But it will take a year or two to see if it has to be fine-tuned or whatever."

Thoughts on the game in general:

"Sometimes managers or players criticise the game and the feeling from the administration side is that we are knocking ourselves. It is a great organisation even though we see some of the things done by administration as a bit daft. But there was a period towards the end of the league when the communication level between county management and Croke Park could have been improved. No one is any threat to the other."