Similarly in Ulster there were many problems as hurling was much weaker and confined to a small few counties in the north-east of the province.

Their proposals involved allowing the defeated Munster and Leinster finalists to re-enter the All-Ireland championship.

At the start of 1996 these proposals looked unlikely of being introduced, however, a whistle-stop tour undertaken by the committee's secretary Frank Murphy and Pat Daly, the GAA's Games Development Officer, had changed the position.

The departure of manager Liam Griffin and the sheer exertion of winning the previous years' title meant that Wexford's hurlers, it seemed, had reached their peak.

Having failed to land the provincial title since 1993, former player and current manager Nickey Brennan seemed to have reignited the hunger.

One problem was the age profile of some of the team's players, while a lack of strength in depth on the bench also militated against Offaly's chances.

Farrell guided his native county to three All-Ireland titles in the 1980s and seemed to be blessed with a very strong panel at the start of his third stint as manager.

Limerick, the All-Ireland runners-up of the previous year, were again touted as a team that could make the big breakthrough.

Two All-Ireland final defeats in three years, however, lead some commentators to question the mental toughness of the team.

Although the 'big three' were in decline for a number of years, a resurgent John Leahy seemed to give Tipp a half-chance of landing the championship title.

One team is eliminated at this stage, while the winners advance to the All-Ireland quarter-final where that play the Munster runners-up.