Doubling up the All-Ireland semi-finals on the one weekend turned out to be a celebration of hurling when it was first introduced five years ago.

The Clare-Galway and Limerick-Cork games back in 2018 were both classics that went to extra time, with a replay required to produce a winner in the first tie.

It was more of the same the following year as Kilkenny edged out Limerick and Tipperary produced a sensational comeback to see off Wexford.

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Then the pandemic came, stripping the weekend of its fanfare and there has been a tendency for there to be one engrossing encounter and a rather forgettable one in the last few years.

Limerick-Galway very much slotted into the latter category last weekend.

Galway came to the party for 25 minutes and then pulled an Irish goodbye.

Working alongside Joe Canning, I asked him if Galway genuinely believed they could topple Limerick as the teams came out for the second half. His response was that if they don’t, they may as well turn around and go back to the dressing room.

Well, it looked as though they had all but done that 10 minutes into the second half. What was most disappointing was how quickly the intensity drained from Galway.

They went from having 21 shots to Limerick’s 20 in the first half to just 11 in the second - 13 less than their opponents. They only scored 0-5 in that second half, which is pretty horrendous for an All-Ireland semi-final.

But, then, do people expect too much from Galway? Are they as good as they are made out to be?

After all, Dublin were streets ahead of them for long periods and should have beaten them. Galway were Jekyll and Hyde throughout the Leinster final and eventually got caught at the end.

They have some good young players but are they sufficiently developed and is there a panel of players there right now that is strong enough to contend for an All-Ireland? I’m not so sure.

Yes, they started the game very well but how much of that was Galway being really good and how much of it was attributable to Limerick finding their feet following a lay-off? I’d be thinking it was more the latter.

Henry Shefflin finds himself in a bit of a conundrum now. For me, this job is a two-year gig from here given the rebuild that’s required. Is he prepared to give it that length of time?

There are a number of players with a lot of hurling played and they need to introduce fresh blood.

Perhaps last year’s semi-final performance against Limerick gave them a false impression of where they’re at. Remember, they really shouldn’t have been there given how wasteful Cork had been in the quarter-final.

For me, they need three or four new players and they’re not going to unearth them and bring them up to the required standard within 12 months.

There’s much to ponder for Shefflin and Co for the rest of the summer - but they really need to attack it from next winter if Galway are to make inroads on being serious All-Ireland contenders again in the next couple of years.

Lohan's sweeper call put Clare on the back foot

I wasn't in Croke Park last Sunday as I was going to Dermot Kennedy at Thomond Park.

One of his better known songs is ‘Giants’, a word that sprang to mind with regard to Kilkenny as I watched the game on TV.

They have the respect of the rest of the country for the way they go about their business - honest, hard-working people and they never complain.

They just get on with it, no matter what the outcome or situation.

I think we were all a little surprised that Clare went with a sweeper from the off. They didn’t do that against Limerick, so why go with it against Kilkenny?

When you don’t train for something like that all year, it’s very difficult to suddenly revert to it and that was very evident in how Clare played in the first half.

There were rallying calls for Brian Lohan following the defeat and you can see why as he has done a great job.

However, I couldn’t help wondering how that would contrast with Davy Fitzgerald if he was in charge of Clare last Sunday and employed such a tactic. But Lohan is a firm favourite in Clare and it appears as though the job will be his for as long as he wants it.

It’s scant consolation but they are very close. Nine months is a long time away though.

There could be injuries, retirements or loss of form in the meantime, and it’s hard enough to negotiate the Munster round robin even when things are running in your favour.

So, when the opportunity is there and you fail to take it, it’s the worst feeling of all.

But Kilkenny ground it out like only they can and they are in a much better position going into this All-Ireland final than they were 12 months ago.

Refs must start as they mean to go on

Players tend to adapt to a referee within a game having got a read on how they are running the show.

But it’s much more difficult to do that when he’s inconsistent. It’s the most annoying trait in a referee and there was plenty of that from James Owens last Saturday in the Limerick-Galway game.

Early on he whistled for free after free but from 20 minutes on he was leaning on the advantage rule far more. So, having been whistle-happy, the message changed to, “Do what ye like, there’ll be no frees given here!” That’s very frustrating.

James is generally a solid ref but if you start a game with a certain approach, you really should stick with it. Changing during a game is a disaster for everyone.

In last year’s Munster final John Keenan set out to referee the game in a certain fashion, and people may argue as to the merits of that, but, crucially, he stuck with it.

As it happens, John turns 50 this year and so it’s his last season reffing at the top level. I’m delighted that he’s been given the chance to referee the All-Ireland final later this month before he finishes.