This weekend will be the busiest of the O'Neill's All-Ireland 4-Wall Senior Championship season. By Sunday evening, the field in the respective men's grades will be reduced to eight. Could there be a shock or two between now and then?
Unfortunately, after undergoing an MRI scan, 10-time winner Paul Brady has been forced to pull out, meaning Meath's Brian Carroll will now meet Kildare's Niall O'Connor in the round of 16 on Sunday. The Cavanman's withdrawal leaves the number of former winners at three, namely reigning champion Robbie McCarthy, Armagh's Charly Shanks and Galway's Martin Mulkerrins.
That trio will be fancied to advance to the last eight, with McCarthy taking on Mayo lefty Vinnie Moran, Mulkerrins facing the winner of Shane O'Neill (Tyrone) and Michael Gregan (Wicklow) and Shanks meeting either Tyrone's Sean Kerr or Wexford's Gavin Buggy.
While there may be over two decades between them, the meeting of Kerr and Buggy will be intriguing, with the Ulster man, a former Minor Singles champion, seeking a break though this year while Buggy has shown solid form, defeating David Hope in the Leinster Over 35 final in mid-week.
Clare duo Diarmaid Nash and Colin Crehan will be two of the other names on the lips of most fans. Nash has been in two Senior Singles finals while Crehan has yet to reach that stage but has broken into the top five in tournament play and, as a partnership, they have won the last two Senior Doubles crowns.
Nash meets either Cork's Michael Hedigan or experienced former Senior Doubles medallist Joe McCann from Mayo while the powerful Crehan will be pitted against the winner of Daniel Relihan, who also showed impressive tournament form, and Roscommon's Rikki O'Gara in what should also be an entertaining scrap.
Elsewhere, Westmeath's Colm Jordan, formerly of Cork, meets Kilkenny's Peter Funchion with whoever comes through there lining out against Tipperary's Ger Coonan 24 hours later.
And in what should be a cracker, the evergreen Dominick Lynch of Kerry takes on Patrick Funchion as part of an attractive triple-header in Cappagh, Co Limerick.
As for picking a winner, given the outstanding form he showed in the Irish Nationals, giving up just 27 points in two-and-a-half games, Westmeath's Robbie McCarthy undoubtedly starts the championship as favourite to retain his crown.
Mulkerrins, Nash and Shanks head the chasing pack and all will be extremely motivated.
Lurgan man Shanks showed fine form in winning the recent Ulster Senior Singles weekend tournament and there is no doubt that he is the leading contender in this draw from the northern province.
The hard-hitting Mulkerrins, who last wore the crown in 2018, will be desperate to win it back while Nash, one of the best players in the world for the last seven years or so, has yet to reach the Promised Land and will of course come prepared and focused for the championship, as he always does.
In a feature on GAAHandball.ie this week, four-time winner Tony Healy cited Crehan's “remarkable potential”. He skipped the Nationals last week, presumably to focus on the All-Ireland, and the exciting shooter will fancy his chances of going deep in the draw.
All in all, despite the disappointment of Brady's injury-enforced withdrawal, the stage seems set for another high-quality renewal of this famous championship. On all known form, the winner should come from that leading quintet – McCarthy, Mulkerrins, Nash, Shanks and Crehan – although there is always the chance that a relatively new face could fire their way into contention.
Five into four won't go and one of those on our short-list will bite the dust at the quarter-final stage. That's for another day, though; for this week, all that matters is negotiating the tricky opening two rounds.