Munster Hurling: John Horgan picks his three teams to qualify from provincial series

There is a familiar saying, everything changes and nothing stays the same, one that certainly applies to the provincial hurling championships.

We are a few days past the midway point of April and it's now all systems go for the voyage in Munster and Leinster to begin next weekend.

There was a time, not that long ago when the national league had not completed its journey, the final still a few weeks away. The championship start would not have been until the latter end of May or maybe the June weekend, with the provincial finals not concluding until the second or third Sunday in July.

It was the first Sunday in September for the All-Ireland final.

Well, that schedule has been well and truly altered and the format is much changed too. Whatever one's viewpoint is on the current situation, it has to be said that the round-robin format, particularly in Munster, has been a resounding success.

And probably the split season has been too even if there's a different opinion in some quarters.

Yes, the season is very congested, particularly in the provinces and the margin for error is minimal enough with just three of the five Munster hurling counties having their season extended into the All-Ireland series.

NO ROOM FOR ERROR

Two high-profile counties lose out, their inter-county season all over in a very short space of time.

It's happened to Cork, to Clare, Tipperary and Waterford in recent years and no matter what standing a county might have at the beginning of the campaign, the five-county field quickly becomes very level.

Clare went in last season as All-Ireland champions but they were nowhere to be seen when the first three went past the post in Munster and Leinster might still be seen as inferior to its Munster counterpart and that cannot brook much argument but it's getting more competitive in that province too.

Limerick are currently that bit ahead of the chasing pack in Munster and beyond. Plus they have the luxury of having the first weekend of the campaign off.

Then again it might not be a luxury at all, the other four more championship battle-hardened when they begin their journey on Sunday week here on Leeside against Cork.

But over the coming days it's all about Cork and Tipperary in Tom Semple's field in Thurles and Clare hosting Waterford in Cusack Park.

The pre-campaign consensus seems to be that it will be Limerick, Tipp and Cork going through but you rule out Clare and Waterford at your peril. Because the bottom line in Munster is that on any given day each county is well capable of beating the opposition in front of them.

It's a difficult beginning for Cork, away to the All-Ireland champions and a home game with the league champions, the county currently perceived to be much better than all the rest. But, in Munster anyway, the thinking has to be, to use a well-worn phrase, the only certainty is the uncertainty.

A colleague said to me recently that Cork can afford to lose their opening two games and still make it through to the All-Ireland series. He might well be right but would Cork or any other county want to be going down to Walsh Park to stay in the championship.

Yes, the first game is hugely important, get off on the right foot and build some momentum for the three subsequent games.

Winning your two home games is looked upon as being very important too and if that is achieved, you have to be in a very good plac at the conclusion.

There was a difference of opinion on how the league final was played out, some describing it as a cracker, others not so and that it lacked championship intensity.

BELOW PAR

Here in Cork, the perception was that Ben O'Connor's men did not do anything near enough as a unit, the attack didn't function anywhere near enough either to its capabilities and there certainly was not enough penetration up front.

One has no doubt the performance was dissected in the video analysis and, out on the training pitch, no effort is being spared in trying to get to grips with the wrongs and to have them righted for next Sunday.

Despite being the MacCarthy Cup holders there has not been too much talk of Tipperary over the past number of months and it was clearly obvious the league was not being prioritised in the Premier county.

The league was more used as a tool to deepen what was already a strong panel last season and let nobody be under any illusions, Tipp will come bursting out of the dressingrooms in Thurles next Sunday determined to take the first step on the road to trying to retain their All-ireland title, something the county has not been very good at doing over the past few decades.

Clare will be fancied to bag the brace of points against Waterford, that's probably going on league form but as we learn every season, the league can be misleading.

Waterford's group record is desperately poor but go back in recent years and they have managed to manufacture a result against an opponent perceived to be much better than them.

The only guarantee that there is in this Munster championship, a championship of hazardous obstacles from beginning to end is that there will be full house signs across the province.

Down through the years, there have been different versions of the championship but there can be no doubt, the current format is the best, the most competitive there ever has been.

In the now long distant past a county got just the one bite, lose your opener in late May or early June and it was all over. That, thankfully, is no longer the case when the game at provincial and All-Ireland level is all but professional in name.

Staying in Munster, you have four games to state your case and if you come up short there cannot be any complaints.

The Munster hurling championship has become the cherry on the top of a very rich cake and as recent history has showed one of the three counties that emerge from it go on to claim the All-Ireland crown.

Unfortunately, Cork have not claimed that prestigious prize for 21 years but the cause continues to endure and no stone will be left unturned by Ben O'Connor to change the narrative.

For what it is worth, as we do each season, we'll predict what is likely to transpire over the coming weeks.

Right now, the only goal is being in the top three in the province.

Forget about Munster titles or the All-Ireland series, it's all about what happens in Thurles, the Gaelic Grounds, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cusack Park and Walsh Park.

It's probably easier to forecast that it will be Limerick, Cork and Tipp going through but in this now very level playing arena, rule nothing in and nothing out. But we''ll go with that three.