Emmet Moloney writes for the 'Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

The National Leagues have ended. The shadow boxing is over. So how do the hurling counties sit just weeks away from the championship? Emmet Moloney reports.

This could be the best time of the year. There is hope. There is expectation. There is the false optimism that everything will be all right come championship day. Training is most enjoyable for players around now. The heavy stuff should be finished with. They are hurling now, and the sharpness should be showing itself.

Take a trip down to the training fields some evening to have a look at your county. Many of the sessions are still open. Wander in with your children, and let them see the stars doing their drills.

Watch the practice matches and see the sparks fly. The player who wasn’t to the fore in the league is pushing his case now. The youngsters are trying to make it hard for managers and selectors to ignore them. This is when training is good to watch.
Anytime I am in a hurling county around now, I try and slip in to watch the senior hurlers train. Back in the old days, there was no problem. The gates were open, and you’d usually see a couple of wags gathered to pass judgement on the squad. “So and so is going well; he’ll be hard to leave off. Yer man has lost a yard; he’ll never do.”
Many moons ago, I saw the Cork hurlers train in Bishopstown. Their midfielder John Fenton was practising penalties. No one wanted to go into the goal with Ger Cunningham. They had just cause. Fenton was hitting them so hard you didn’t even see the ball; you just saw the net shake.

SAVAGE TRAINING
More recently, I snuck into Cusack Park and saw the Ger Loughnane revolution first hand. Those training games were more savage than anything I saw on the field. Loughnane would ref the games but was not fond of the whistle. On one occasion, a ball ran out over the sideline and up against the wire. The two players contesting it stopped for a sideline ball. “Did I blow the whistle?” roared Loughnane? The two players tore into each other up against the fencing.

I haven’t passed through Kilkenny on a Tuesday or Thursday evening this year, but rumours of similar happenings are rife. Apparently, Nowlan Park has seen some tempestuous clashes while the Black and Amber train. Of course you can’t believe all you hear, but a source tells me Cody isn’t a slave to blowing the whistle either. Legend has it that three separate fights were underway off the ball during a recent game among themselves.

Legend is a wonderful thing, but one can only guess how much players want to get on the Kilkenny team. The real way to impress is in training, because chances are you will be marking an All-Star – past, present or future. That’s when you have to stand up and make a case for yourself. Were there three scuffles going on off the ball? I don’t know, but I can well believe it. The physicality the Cats carry into matches does not come at the flick of a switch. It’s being beaten into them by their teammates, manager and each other.

GEARING UP
Tipperary lived with Kilkenny in early May. They showed the blueprint. You beat them by matching them. Without Eoin Kelly the Tipp men did a hell of a job. That they fell just short is not the point. They proved to themselves it can be done. Now how much improvement do they have left in them? How many more gears do the All-Ireland champions have? Both counties look a cut above the rest. Kilkenny, naturally, are the team to be beat. Tipp are the nearest challengers. But what about the rest?

REALISTIC AMBITIONS
Galway, Waterford and maybe Cork are the only ones with realistic ambitions of spoiling the Tipp-Cats final, which right now looks inevitable. And that premise is not built on the fantastic league final. Tipp should win Munster, and Kilkenny will win Leinster. Their paths will be clear to September.

Cork are first into the fray, and they must meet Tipp with fire and purpose. Reports from Leeside suggest they are still mired in the bad feelings that hounded their winter.
Very little has been resolved, and far too many of the same old faces (on both sides) are still about the place. In Thurles, you just can’t see them having enough to stop Tipp. This year could be a write-off for Cork.

The Deise won the only league game that mattered to them. They beat the Cats. But the word from their camp isn’t all that happy either. If they fall to Limerick, their summer could fall apart. And don’t you know that Justin will have his new charges ready. More than ready. Davy is an “all eggs into the one basket” merchant, and that’s the sword he could die by. Hard to see the Deise matching last year’s exploits via the qualifiers. The hangover of last September has yet to rear its ugly head in a public fashion. Watch that space.

This leaves Galway. Reports from here aren’t too bright either. Apparently, a recent bonding session in the Aran Islands didn’t go according to plan, and internal fall-out is still simmering.

LEINSTER DIMENSION
The Leinster dimension to Galway’s year should suit them, but the draw is all important. A semi-final or final against Kilkenny? That’s the dilemma. A semi-final would suit better, but Dublin or Offaly/Wexford could upset that plan. Neither would mind a cut at the Tribesmen.

Stop Joe Canning and you stop Galway. True or false, that’s the impression the Tribesmen give right now. His supporting cast in the forwards went missing last year. If they don’t show up this July and early August, they won’t see late August. Either way, I don’t expect a Joe-Show in September.

Also-rans include my native Clare. Our manager has lost the plot a little this spring, and as a result expectations have never been lower. They are high in Dublin and rightly so. A good draw and a Leinster final is a possibility. Offaly and Wexford will think the same, but that is the end of their ambitions.

Is there a hurling team in the long grass out there?

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...