ON THE LINE I wish these draws were made sooner than Monday morn

FORGIVE ME, dear reader, but I have to start this week’s column with a gripe. I’m sure there’s more than enough negativity in your life right now, so apologies for adding a little more to the mix.

It’s close to deadline time as I write, though, and that part of the week always brings out the worst in me.

Anyway, this is what’s bugging me: why on earth do we have to wait until early Monday morning to find out the next phase of the All-Ireland draws?

This has been going on for quite some time now, but it was particularly annoying on this occasion when one considers that the four teams in contention were known by Saturday evening.

Why not finish off the live television coverage of Cork’s win over Dublin on Sky with some GAA official conducting the draw?

And on the weeks when the teams advancing to the next stage aren’t finalised until Sunday, what would be wrong with letting everyone know the next pairings on ‘The Sunday Game’?

I can only assume that it’s part of the media rights deal, whereby it’s written in stone that all draws must be conducted live on ‘Morning Ireland’ every Monday after 8.30 a.m.

And whether that’s the real reason or not, I can tell you one thing: as a print journalist in a local newspaper trying to preview the next match, it’s as annoying as hell.

I reckon I’m not alone in that view either. I imagine an extra day to focus on a thorough analysis of the opposition would have been warmly welcomed by Davy Fitzgerald, and equally so in this instance by Brian Lohan, Liam Sheedy and Kieran Kingston.

And what about the hard-pressed County Board officials, none more so than our own highly-efficient Secretary, Gearóid Devitt?

I’m sure it would be easier for him if he went to bed Sunday night knowing exactly what needed to be done in terms of providing logistical support for the next match.

Most importantly of all, there’s the players. Sunday must have been most frustrating for the Wexford lads, playing the waiting game and wondering which of the Munster counties we would be facing.

The situation is unlikely to change any time soon. Right now, though, it occupies the number one slot on my ever-changing list of ‘things that really annoy me about the GAA, even though deep down I love it’.

Anyway, with that rant off my chest, what about Clare? On the basis of what we have seen thus far, and particularly last Saturday, I reckon it’s as favourable a draw as we could have wished for.

Assuming that David McInerney’s suspension isn’t rescinded, they will be down another very experienced campaigner, and that will have to help our cause.

It goes without saying that the task of curbing Tony Kelly will be the key factor, but there’s no better man to have in our camp than Davy to know what makes him purr and, more to the point, what’s needed to put a stop to his graceful gallop.

Beating a Munster county in the championship is one of the boxes that our manager still needs to tick, after bowing out to Waterford, Clare and Tipperary respectively in the 2017 to 2019 campaigns.

The unpredictability of sport sucks us in and keeps enticing us back for more. We all remember that memorable night in Wexford Park, more than six years ago now, when Liam Dunne’s team dethroned Davy’s Clare, the reigning All-Ireland champions at the time, by three points in a qualifier replay after extra-time.

Little did we think then that the Sixmilebridge man would be next to occupy our own hurling hotseat, but here we are.

I think preparing another county or club to take on your own must be one of the toughest tasks any manager will ever face, but rest assured that Davy won’t be shirking his responsibilities.

His frosty recent relationship with rival boss Brian Lohan didn’t show any signs of thawing when Clare visited Chadwicks Wexford Park on February 2 last and won the league clash by 0-18 to 0-15.

And while it will add another angle to next weekend’s clash, the only thing that counts is what the scoreboard will look like at the finish.

We need to see a massive response from the players after the Galway flop, and I reckon they have the goods to deliver.