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

A weekend of football behind us, we can look forward to a weekend of hurling ahead of us. Well, sort of, writes Emmet Moloney...

Although there’s a fixture to be filled in Munster this weekend what we have in front of us is really a weekend of Leinster hurling because the GAA in Limerick have contrived to shoot themselves in their collective feet. This Sunday, the proud hurling tradition of the Shannonsiders will get trampled on when they willingly write off an entire hurling year. Maybe it will get lost in the mix if Offaly shock Galway, or, shock of shocks, the Dubs catch Kilkenny.
Where it won’t get lost is at the turnstiles of Páirc Uí Chaoimh or on the roads leading to Cork. There will be no mile-long tailbacks in Charleville, Buttevant or Mallow, no back roads under traffic stress. But, most of all, there will be no excitement in Limerick this week. Are you travelling? Have you a chance? Instead a mixture of tension and trepidation, the thoughts will surely dwell on what Cork will do to this side.

This is not what the Munster hurling championship is about. The tragedy of a lost year – maybe two or three – is primarily a GAA tragedy. Someone, somewhere in Limerick has decided a line must be drawn in the sand with players and it might as well be in Limerick. Good luck with that, lads.

Good luck, too, to the players representing the green and white this Sunday. It will be a thankless task. And when the dust finally settles, Justin is gone and a few more with him, will any of these young men see the jersey again? Remember the Cork replacement hurling team? Are many of them playing on Sunday?

These are rows to have and sort out in winter. Cork will win and patronise Limerick while doing it. Even this punter cannot get that prediction wrong!

Dublin absolutely destroyed this Limerick side in the last game of the league; on that basis alone the Rebels should beat them by at least 20 points – if they want to. But this is the county of Ray Cummins. Those of us old enough to remember the legendary full-forward of both codes will recall the 1982 Munster hurling final. Waterford had qualified for their first final in years and ran into a determined and ruthless Cork. Well, ruthless to a point. Leading by 5-30 to 3-6 and with little time left, Ray Cummins caught yet another ball (Aisake-like!) and was through on goal. Rather than bury it in the net he hand-passed it over the bar. A classy act or an insult to the Déise? Most of us recognised it for the gentleman that Cummins was.

Will we see a bit of that on Sunday? Perhaps. It would probably be no harm either. Those who should be hammered for their parts in Sunday’s upcoming debacle are, of course, the Limerick County Board and Christy Cooney. Like it or not, lads, this happened on your watch. You’ve had months to sort it out yet Sunday’s nightmare scenario proceeds. A tiny crowd will ensue and the Munster championship might as well be scrapped now if it can be devalued in such a way.
By the way, at this stage we don’t care who was right or wrong – it should have been sorted. A gram of leadership, let alone an ounce of it, would do. Because it eventually will be sorted. Justin will go and some players will come back. Why put it off for a year? Why waste a year? Those who consider themselves the guardians of the GAA in Limerick have failed their county.

If, as expected, Dublin and Offaly lose to Galway and Kilkenny, both will be crossing their
fingers they draw Limerick in the qualifiers instead of Clare. Could you blame them?
Of course, neither are thinking that way this week. They are thinking about winning. They have to believe they can win and this is where a manager really earns his petrol money. Convincing Dublin they have the players, ability and balls to beat the Cats is right up Anthony Daly’s street. Joe Dooley will have a somewhat easier task because games like theirs against Galway are made for them.

It’s a double-header in Croke Park and what are the chances of two more draws like last Sunday? Remote, you think? Well, there won’t be two blow-outs anyway. One of the minnows will put it up to the big fella. Offaly look the most likely. Poor against Antrim, they revel in these situations. And Galway won’t frighten them. You could make the same case for Dublin’s challenge.

It’s probably the secret to management, right now – coaxing back-to-back performances out of your team. Look at your own county and see how often they have put the following sequence together: impressive, poor, impressive. Or how about: not great, very good, back to not great. You get the picture. It’s all about consistency.

With this in mind, we can’t be fooled by Waterford’s lacklustre win over Clare, by Tipperary’s non-display against Cork. They will both be better the next day. Tipp are the type of team that could murder Wexford in the qualifiers. The Déise will put it up to Cork and probably beat them in the Munster final.

So Offaly and Dublin, both lucky to escape from Antrim and Laois in their quarter-finals, travel into Croke Park under a cloud of suspicion. Perfect preparations. What would it be like to be in one of their dressing rooms before the start? Fiery, I’d say. Put it up to them, lads. Take our minds off the madness unfolding in Cork.

Hopefully at half-time in these games we’re not in the Declan Kidney situation, ie, looking at a hiding. (Don’t panic, Deccy, the season will soon be over and, besides, we’re watching the GAA and World Cup over here.)

Three one-sided hurling matches would naturally provoke discussion about the future of hurling, particularly as the football championship is providing us with such entertainment. But here come the Cats.

It’s the middle of June and at last we’ll see Kilkenny in action. Have they still the hunger, the physical edge, the cuteness, the killer instinct? They’ll need them all for the tests ahead. They will be beaten some day, just not Sunday.

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