By Michael McMullan

I VISITED my parents a few years ago on a Sunday night after covering a bumper weekend of Derry club championship action.

It was the beginning of the second coming of group stages. It was a case of wall-to-wall games with next to no jeopardy.

We started to dissect the games; it was like The Sunday Game of club weekend. Discussion well before the days of podcasts.

As we drank tae, there were balls flying around until Daddy asked the question… “So, who all have been knocked out?”

A fairly routine query after what seemed like a gazillion talking points. The answer shocked him. Nobody.

After that, I went into a meandering series of ifs, buts and maybes that would take the guts of a month to sort out. He thought it was insane.

It has been the same in recent years with the group stages on the road to Sam Maguire. Had Westmeath managed to salvage a draw with Derry in the final game of the 2024 group phase, they’d have booked a place in the knock out stages having lost two games and drawn one.

A scenario like that was never going to be any use. Derry beat Westmeath to qualify for the preliminary quarter-finals. After squeezing through against Mayo on penalties, they fizzled out against Kerry in the last eight.

Fast forward to now and we have the best system. Every team in the All-Ireland series can have one hiccup. It does, however, still leave the provincial competition floating in a no man’s land. It still means a team can lose two championship games in the same season and take Sam home.

There is still much to love about the provincials. A heaving Clones with penalty shootouts. Roscommon fans dancing around the Nestor Cup. The amazing story of Westmeath.

I think they will and should remain but they certainly don’t have the same oomph. As much as I don’t like saying it, I can’t see that changing.

Of this year’s winners, Roscommon are gone before the last 12. Only one of Armagh or Kerry will make the quarter-finals with Westmeath heading to Clones to face Monaghan in their qualifier. Of the four teams in the quarter-final pot, Louth and Tyrone didn’t make a provincial final.

Going forward, the provincial championships – without anyone wanting to admit it – will be a breeding ground for counties trying to make the climb into to the race for Sam Maguire. A more prestigious version of the Tailteann Cup.

Unless the winners can be guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals of the All-Ireland, teams are going to be fully preparing for this time of the year.

If Tyrone are to win Sam Maguire, Malachy O’Rourke and Ryan Porter must prime their team to win three high-octane championship games within a four-week window. Cork, Louth and Galway are the same.

Take the last two winners of Sam – Kerry and Armagh. They face off this weekend but are going to have to win four games in five weeks. With a fully fit squad and with momentum on their side, this is possible. The extra game a penance for losing a game.

Donegal lost last year’s All-Ireland final. They are in the four games in five-week bracket now. Where would three Ulster games have fitted in?

Back to me and my Da shooting the Derry club championship breeze over a cuppa in a world of games with no jeopardy. Last weekend’s county goodness was a different planet.

When Sam Mulroy was jockeying for a sliver of room to kick a two pointer, Armagh were in the quarter-final bowl. A Mulroy two-pointer and we’d have had extra time. The fact a collection of bodies was enough to leave Ethan Rafferty with more than the flight of the ball to think about, Armagh leaked a goal that turned their season upside down.

They can’t afford to grant Blaine Hughes or Andrew Murnin another week of rest. Aidan Forker or Barry McCambridge won’t have another A versus B game to push themselves up the selection ladder.

It’s the same for Donegal. They are in the last chance saloon. The fact Cork chartered a plane north last weekend told you the importance of recovery. Had they lost, they needed to be tucked up back in their own beds sharpish without having their legs cramped up for hours on a bus.

Compare that with the months and months of knowing when your first game is at in the provincial championships, where it is and what time.

Then, when the season is on the line, for the biggest games, there is very little room for any sort of planning. That said, everybody is in the same boat.

I was in Derry for the visit of Meath. This was proper knock-out. Two teams who had lost two championship games.

After the Royals let a three-point lead slip, Derry were buoyed by feeing they’d dug themselves out of a tight spot. It led to the spark that saw Sean Hurson issuing four black cards, a yellow card and brandishing a red to a member of the Meath backroom team.

BATTLEGROUND…Conor McCarthy is chased by Roscommon’s Colm Neary in last weekend’s all or nothing encounter in Clones

That’s what happens when you know you season is only guaranteed to last another 35 minutes.

It makes what Monaghan are doing all the more remarkable.

They are the example every county should be trying to replicate. They don’t look for excuses or any further than the six inches in front of their face. They’ll see this weekend’s showdown with Westmeath as very winnable. But so will Mark McHugh’s side.

Monaghan have three things going for them. They have an insatiable desire to empty themselves. Secondly, they have always had top drawer players. Finally, and more importantly, they make sure those players outside their elite are at the top of their game.

I can’t wait for this weekend to kick into action. The game in Killarney epitomises this new system. The last two winners of Sam will clash but only the strongest will survive.

Either Donegal or Dublin will fail to make it to the last eight year. Jeopardy is alive and well. Fasten your seatbelts.

– Any thoughts? m.mcmullan@gaeliclife.com