John Horgan on hurling: Cork have depth but every county has a long way to catch Limerick

TWO down, three to go at the group stage. That's the state of play with all the counties in the NHL.

Having had last weekend off, it was an opportunity for the various management teams to take stock of the situation, putting their heads together as championship preparation begins to intensify all that bit more.

And that is what the league is all about, putting together a squad of players that will give you the best chance when the championship takes centre stage.

Team bosses want players to put up their hands in the league, show cause why they should be included in that championship plan. With the Fitzgibbon Cup now completed, the players' sole focus is now on getting into the championship squad and ensuring that they can have a significant role to play, that they are not just there to make up the numbers.

In the past you might have had players in a squad that had very little chance of featuring on match days.

Westmeath are on Leeside next Sunday and the expectation is that Pat Ryan and his selectors will experiment all that bit more because despite giving it their best shot in all the games that they play, the Lake County are expected to be pointless when the group stage is completed.

With just two games played thus far in Division 1A they are minus 36 in the table, being comprehensively beaten by Clare on day one and Wexford the second day. They did much better against Wexford than was the case against the Banner but they still lost by 11 points.

Last season they raised many eyebrows by drawing with Wexford but life among the elite counties is certainly not easy for them.

It isn't either for Laois in Division 1B although after 46 minutes against Waterford last Sunday week they led by two points before being outscored by 11 points for the remainder of the game. Yes, it's a learning curve for counties like Westmeath and Laois but severe drubbings can prove to be very detrimental in the longer term.

A victory for Cork on Sunday could see them into the last four of the competition and they would still have two group games to go. With two home games of the three that are left, it has to be odds on that they will be in a league semi-final at the very least.

The management is certainly casting the net far and wide in their search for the right combination, the new players being introduced to inter-county hurling are certainly putting their hands up.

In fact, it might be right to suggest that competition for starting places come the Munster championship is more intense now than it has been for a long time. That applies to all sectors of the team but particularly in attack.

SCORING POWER

Against Galway key players who would be considered leading contenders for the championship 15 were marked absent, Patrick Horgan and the injured Robbie O'Flynn being two for starters. Seamie Harnedy, Alan Cadogan and Tim O'Mahony have not featured in the current league campaign. Luke Meade and Conor Cahalane started on the bench in Salthill but the form of Deccie Dalton, Sean Twomey and Shane Barrett must have pleased the management, particularly Dalton.

That trio shared 2-12 of Cork's 3-22 tally, illustrating that there is greater depth of attacking talent available now and more scoring power.

In defence the full-back slot has not been properly nailed down for far too long but the form of Eoin Downey in the number three shirt in the games against Limerick and Galway has been very encouraging. The spine of the defence has had no consistency through the years since Cork's last All-Ireland in 2005 but with Ciaran Joyce a nailed-on certainty at number six now, maybe that long-standing issue is getting nearer to being resolved.

Downey's older brother, Robert is very much in the equation too for the full-back position and the more options the better.

But, of course, it's still only the month of February and one has to urge caution when examining players' credentials at this time of the year. You have to start somewhere though and there is a reason for a greater degree of cautious positivity going forward.

We all know how unforgiving the Munster championship is going to be when that time comes around when the margin for error will be down to the bare minimum and the consequences for any slip-ups could be great. Because make no mistake about it, it's going to be a ferocious Munster championship, probably the most so since the introduction of the group stage.

It's ridiculously early yet but after just two rounds of the national league, the odds might favour Limerick, Cork and Tipperary being the three teams that will emerge into the All-Ireland series. 

Would you put money on that, of course not because league form has made fools of us too many times now?

Cork do not play on the opening weekend of the Munster campaign and that, of course, gives them an opportunity to have a good, hard look at their four opponents. With so many new managers operating in the league and subsequently the championship the league is very much about developing the particular style that they want and ensuring that the players are comfortable with it.

Having seen how the current Limerick team has evolved over the past number of years and how they have developed the necessary cutting edge to their game, there will be a realisation that has to be matched if you are to compete on a level playing field with them.

That's what will be prioritised within the pack that will be chasing them down in the summer months. Evidence must be presented that the rest of the contenders are playing for much more than the runners-up spot.

That seems to be the case in a lot of pundits' eyes, that it's Limerick's All-Ireland to lose and that the rest are playing for second place...