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

It’s the year of the draw. So far in the championship we have had draws left, right and centre, writes Emmet Moloney...

What’s going on this season? It’s been the year of the draw so far. We’ve have strange draws, where teams like Offaly come back from the dead to level with kingpins like Galway. Common draws, like Cork and Kerry doing their usual merry dance. And then Dublin and Meath have the bad grace not to draw!

GAA draws are an oddity. They should not happen with the regularity with which they occur. In most GAA games, hurling or football, teams score 15 or 20 times, goals included, yet we still manage to end up after 75-odd minutes with the scores as they were at the first whistle. We all thought the injury time board declaring the amount of time to be added on at the end of matches would close out an avenue available to referees to “draw” a game but apparently it has had no effect.

Draws are mighty things. Another day out. A second bite of the cherry, etc. They even have their own cliché language. And the replays are usually better than the drawn match. Early in the replays, especially. Players that were seen to be roasted in the first match usually lay down a reminder early in the second game. The stars of a drawn match rarely get away with it as well in the second encounter; marked men usually end up well marshalled (early in the second game).

Great teams often come to the end of the road in replays. They hang on to draw against the coming side, who realise in the week between games that the giant is vulnerable. There is less respect for reputations in a replay. Will this incredible Kilkenny team go that way? In their immortal run they have yet to draw a match. An All-Ireland hurling final hasn’t been drawn since 1959, could this be the year?

This weekend we have a Leinster hurling final, Munster football final Connacht championship replay and a couple of hurling qualifiers. Where will the draw come from? The smart money would say extra time will be needed in Markievicz Park.

But that’s another thing about draws and replays. There is a pattern. The small counties like Sligo, Offaly, Clare, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Louth, Wexford and Wicklow have been involved in some memorable draws but hardly ever win the replay. The traditional counties like Tipp, Cork, Kilkenny, Galway, Dublin, Kerry, Meath, Armagh and Tyrone tend to get their act together in replays.

There will be more draws this year. The GAA tends to be like that. The past often repeats. The Cats could be torn into this Sunday. Galway are match fit for sure. Limerick’s footballers could do the same against the Kingdom. Kerry, after all, are shorn of the Galvinator. We live in hope.

Speaking of draws, what about those qualifier match-ups? All the big football counties managed to avoid each other and Offaly’s hurlers’ reward for their showing against Galway was the free pass against Limerick. How handy was that? That’s the GAA for you! With draws so prevalent, I’m amazed that managers up and down the country do not play the psychological game in the minutes after a drawn match. That is when the replay is won. The same applies to club matches.

When your side has just been plainly robbed of victory by a soft free, a square ball or a ridiculous point from the sideline, there is only one way to go. No matter what lead you threw away, no matter how many wides you shot, you are happy to get the draw. If the equalising score came from your opponents in the last seconds then you preach to your team and the media your belief that had the match gone on another minute you would have been beaten. You were lucky to get the draw.

The same applies for the comeback team. You’re delighted to get the draw because you thought you were gone. For the county manager it is crucial to smile when being interviewed by RTÉ after the game. Everyone must think you were thrilled with the draw. They must think that you think you got away with it today.

That’s the formula that works most of the time. Giving out about a referee who gave the equalising free is a sure sign that a manager is not looking ahead, only back.

Responding to a qualifier draw is another decent signpost of a manager’s mental wellbeing. You have to welcome whatever team you are paired with. A good line is always saying that the championship is about playing the big teams. Look out for that because after this next round of qualifiers we have to get some juicy pairings. The Dubs and Cork in football? Tipp and Kilkenny down the road in hurling?

We can’t let the week pass without special mention of Carlow. Their hurlers beat Laois in a game that seriously mattered to both sides. Laois have been showing signs of renaissance lately so this was no flash in the pan. We have been aware of the work being done in Carlow but tradition is a terrible thing to overcome in hurling. Last Saturday night’s qualifier win only counts in the real world if Carlow follow it up. It doesn’t have to be this summer, but sometime over the next few years Carlow have to win a Leinster championship match of significance. They have to take the next step. They have to take a major scalp.

Right now Carlow are in the same place the Offaly hurlers were in back in the late ’70s. Their breakthrough came in 1980 when the Faithful stunned Kilkenny in a Leinster final, 3-17 to 5-10. The Cats were All-Ireland champions at the time. While Kerry are in the Christy Ring Cup final this Sunday, they beat Waterford in the Munster senior hurling championship (in Waterford) as recently as 1993. But that team and opportunity was not built upon. Carlow must get every assistance to make that next step. This is as important as who wins Liam McCarthy this September.

We couldn’t let this week by either without marking the passing of Dermot Earley. Those who ever got the chance to shake his hand will remember the power of his handshake. A legend in the true sense of the word, the tributes were deserved and fitting. As impressive was the dignity shown throughout the week by the GAA in recognising his influence both on and off the field. What a wonderful organisation we are part of.

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