For all of the excitement that resulted from this year's inter-county championships, there is a sense that neither were as competitive as they could have been.
Dublin would ultimately stroll to a sixth consecutive All-Ireland title, leaving many fearing for the long-term health of Gaelic football. It is not difficult to see why, with the gap between Dublin and the rest seemingly widening.
While hurling has reached nowhere that point, some have said that Limerick could go on a run that could be reminiscent of what we have seen from Dublin in recent years. They were certainly by far the best team in this year's championship and could have already tied up three Liam McCarthys in-a-row were it not for a sloppy performance against Kilkenny in last year's semi-final.
Of course, there is also the fact the rate of improvement seen in both Dublin and Limerick in the last decade or so has been greatly helped by the level of financial backing received by both counties.
Dublin's advantages have been well discussed at this point, while Limerick have had the benefit of extra funding from county native JP McManus.
Despite this, not all see hurling going the way of football.
Speaking at at the launch of Londis’ sponsorship of Ireland’s Fittest Family, Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald said he did not see Limerick echoing Dublin's run of six consecutive All-Ireland wins. However, he would like to see some limits placed on the finances that can be used by inter-county teams.
From a hurling point of view, we've had Kilkenny and Tipperary for a long time. Clare broke it into in 2013, Galway and Limerick came. I think in hurling at the moment I don't think we're at that point (one team dominating).
Some people are starting to say that Limerick could win five or six in-a-row, and I think Limerick are an unbelievable team, but I don't think that they'll dominate it the same way Dublin have dominated. They will be there or there abouts.
There are a few more teams around them that are a fraction off them at the moment, there isn't a big gulf. When you look at Galway in the semi-final against Limerick, they made a lot of errors themselves on the day that if they didn't make there would have been nothing in the game. I think the hurling is tighter.
As regards to football, I don't know what to say to you. I can't advocate to you that I know what's going on in football because I don't.
I didn't think Mayo were that far off the pace the other day but that's my own view. Not knowing anything about football, I just thought their decision making on a few things wasn't as good as it could have been, but I didn't think they were that far off it.
I don't know do I accept the money issue, that [Dublin] have way more. The one thing I would say is that I do believe that every team should operate off the same budget. That's the way I think it should be.
Whether it's €500,000, €600,000, or €400,000 of a budget, that should be your budget for the year. I know in Wexford we sit down and get a budget, it's nothing crazy but you've got to work so hard to stay within that budget. It's important.
I think every team should have that. It should be a level playing field across the board on that. Whatever the budget is, that should be the cap that's there for everybody. Then nobody can be giving out about everyone getting an advantage or not.
Davy Fitzgerald is pictured at the launch of Londis’ sponsorship of Ireland’s Fittest Family. Londis will sponsor RTÉ's hit TV show for a second year in a row, which returns to our screens on Sunday, January 3rd in a new 6.30pm slot for its 8th season.
For now, Fitzgerald's focus is very much on the 2021 championship.
Wexford did not meet expectations this year, meaning they will want to right a few wrongs from January onwards. Their manager is not a huge fan of the decision to get rid of the round robin format in the provincial championships, saying that the group usually ensured the best teams would progress.
He also isn't fond of the idea that Leinster teams face the threat of relegation each season when their counterparts in Munster have no such worries. If it were up to him, he thinks that a team should be relegated out of each province every year.
I'm a Munster man and I manage a Leinster team, which I'm very proud of, and I think it should be both equal. I actually don't see a problem in having six and six (in each province), and they're should be up and down.
I'd actually like to see two go up and two go down the whole time. I want to expose more teams to Liam McCarthy, that would be my vision. I think there are certain teams made for it. The Joe McDonagh is very competitive, and why should Leinster be targeted the whole time and Munster not?
I'd love to see it being a two-pronged think where you have two teams, one going into Leinster and one going into Munster every year. That's just me thinking out loud.
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