Weekend Hurling and Football:Limerick captain Damien Reale must receive medical clearance to line out in Sunday's Munster senior hurling final against Waterford at Semple Stadium.
Manager Richie Bennis has revealed he is not certain of Reale's participation after the corner back was carried off during the semi-final replay victory over Tipperary.
Reale was unconscious on the ground for five minutes after a clash with Tipperary's Darragh Egan and did not take any part in last week's training session. Bennis explained that Limerick team doctor Dave Boylan was keeping a close eye on Reale's progress.
Leading medics advise that a player who has suffered unconsciousness for a minute or more should avoid contact sports for the next two weeks. Next Sunday will mark the two-week mark since Reale's trauma at the Gaelic Grounds. "Damien will be a medical decision - there's a two-week interim period after a player is concussed," said Bennis.
The Limerick boss also revealed that full forward Seán O'Connor remains a major doubt with the hamstring injury that ruled him out of the semi-final.
"Seán trained on the Thursday night before the Tipp game and it didn't work out. He was mad to play, that's why we named him in the team, but he came back too soon. Seán gives us options in attack and if he's not fit, those options are reduced."
The busiest weekend of the GAA calendar is almost upon us with two provincial finals, the Connacht football and Munster hurling, sharing the stage with the second round of hurling qualifiers, the first round of football qualifiers and the opening act of the newly improved Tommy Murphy Cup. Then there is the Christy Ring and Nicky Rackard Cups.
For the couch potato, it starts in Ennis next Saturday when Ger Loughnane brings Galway back to his native land for a hurling qualifier that will reveal much about the two teams' current state. The match is live on RTÉ.
The Sunday Game goes live from Hyde Park in Roscommon the following day when Galway play Sligo, before the Munster hurling final between Waterford and Limerick.
This is followed by a live draw for round two of the football qualifiers.
Despite the large quantity of games over the two days - 26 senior inter-county games with only Kilkenny not involved - there appears to be no television scheduling conflict caused by the Dublin v Meath and Tipperary v Limerick draws earlier in the summer when live games on RTÉ 1 gave the punter options in terms of what they watched.
For example, there are no stand-out games in Saturday's football qualifiers, although Armagh v Derry, on Sunday, may be available on BBC Northern Ireland (with a 4pm throw-in) and is in direct conflict with the hurling final.
RTÉ's new one hour GAA magazine show, The Road to Croker - presented by Des Cahill and from the same production that brought us Breaking Ball to the screen, begins on Thursday week.
Next weekend on RTÉ 2
Saturday
All-Ireland SHC Qualifier
Clare v Galway ... Ennis, 7.30pm
Sunday
Munster SHC Final
Waterford v Limerick ... Thurles, 4pm
Connacht SFC Final
Galway v Sligo ... Roscommon, 2pm
