Hurling championship preliminary quarter-finals: All you need to know
SATURDAY, 14 JUNE
All-Ireland SHC preliminary quarter-finals
Laois v Tipperary, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 1.45pm
Kildare v Dublin, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 4pm
ONLINE
Live scores on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live updates on RTÉ Radio's Saturday Sport and Spórt an tSathairn on Raidió na Gaeltachta.
TV
Laois v Tipperary live on GAA+.
Highlights on The Saturday Game, RTÉ2, 9.30pm.
We're now at what is often dubbed the 'business stages' of the hurling championship.
It's a knockout alright, but we are still more in the category of novelty event with the preliminary quarter-finals.
Just six days after winning the Joe McDonagh Cup for the first time, and securing back-to-back promotions, Kildare's reward is to play Dublin, the third-placed finishers in Leinster.
They will both play in the province and Division 1B of the Allianz Hurling League next season so in one sense it is a good test for the Lilywhites but it is also unfair to ask them to play a much more tested and rested team so soon after the greatest triumph of their careers, which they hopefully celebrated.
The only time a Joe Mc team has won in 10 previous preliminary quarter-finals was when Eddie Brennan's Laois shocked Dublin back in 2019. The average margin of defeat has been 17 points.
Four teams coming out of both Leinster and Munster would make the round-robins almost irrelevant but there is no justification for parachuting in the second-tier finalists either.
Last year's winners Offaly lost by nine points to Cork and bettering that would be a decent result for Kildare, even if is part of a double-header with the footballers in Newbridge.
Kildare manager Brian Dowling has unsurprisingly kept faith in the same starting side that beat Laois so impressively.
Dublin will have to pay close attention to Jack Sheridan (1-04) and Gerry Keegan (0-03) who both filled their boots from play.
The visitors have made three changes to the team that three weeks ago disappointed against Galway before producing a late charge in defeat, similar to the loss against Kilkenny.
Dubs boss Niall Ó Ceallacháin brings in Paddy Dunleavy, Fergal Whitely and Ronan Hayes in place of Conor Donohoe, AJ Murphy and John Hetherton.
Anything less than a comprehensive victory would lower the confidence for what already looks a daunting task against Limerick in the quarters proper.
Back-to-back wins for Kildare in this championship fixture (last played in 1976) would be an unbelievable sequel to the story of the summer.
Kildare: Paddy McKenna; Richy Hogan, Rian Boran, Daniel O'Meara; Simon Leacy, Cian Boran, Paul Dolan; Daire Guerin, Cathal McCabe; James Burke, Gerry Keegan, David Qualter; Darragh Melville, Cathal Dowling, Jack Sheridan.
Subs: Mark Doyle, Jack Travers, Harry Carroll, Liam O'Reilly, Conn Kehoe, Muiris Curtin, Oisin Lynam, Killian Harrington, James Dolan, Cormac Byrne, Jack Higgins.
Dublin: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; Conor Burke, Brian Hayes; Riain McBride, Fergal Whitely, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, Cian O'Sullivan, Ronan Hayes.
Subs: Eddie Gibbons, Andy Dunphy, Seán Gallagher, Daire Gray, John Hetherton, Andrew Jamieson-Murphy, David Lucey, James Madden, Paul O'Dea, Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing, Conal O'Riain.
Earlier in the day, Tipperary make the short trip to neighbours Laois.
Tipp bounced back from a dismal 2024 to take five points from their four games in Munster this year, only missing out on the provincial final on points difference due to the hammering their 14 men took in Cork. Which might not have been a bad thing for a younger team, watching the royal rumble at the Gaelic Grounds.
Anything other than a heavy win against the McDonagh runners-up is unthinkable but this is a slightly tricky balancing act for Liam Cahill.
Two years ago, his team broke the all-time championship record scoring by hitting 7-38 past Offaly in a 32-point stroll, only to lose to Galway seven days later. Only eight of that XV start on Saturday.
"We ran up a fairly sizeable score two years ago in the same fixture, and then looked to produce it seven days later, and we were just a tad off," Cahill told the Nenagh Guardian.
"Week after week is always a struggle to manage and we have to be careful how we manage that over the next seven days to come out with a win, please god, and be in a good place physically and mentally going into a quarter final."
"There are little tweaks that can be done to make sure the same thing doesn't happen."
It will again be the Tribesmen, having had an extra week off, playing the winners in this year's quarter-finals.
But Tipperary haven't played in four before now and also need the run out. Noel McGrath and Jake Morris are held in reserve and might pile on the pain late on.
Two-time All-Ireland winner Seamus Kennedy makes his first start of the campaign, having come off the bench in every match in Munster, while Joe Caesar and Alan Tynan also come in as Conor Stakelum drops to the bench and Eoghan Connolly is omitted.
Under-20 All-Ireland winning captain Sam O'Farrell is named at right wing-forward instead of wing-back.
Laois boss Tommy Fitzgerald makes one change from the starting side that lost to Kildare in Croke Park, Ryan Mullaney coming in at wing-back and several players moving further forward as Jer Quinlan misses out.
It was eventual All-Ireland champions Tipperary who ended Laois' superb summer at the quarter-final stage in 2019.
Laois were beaten by Wexford by 12 points at this stage last year and a similar result would be an achievement.
Laois: Cathal Dunne; Cody Comerford, Lee Cleere, Diarmaid Conway; Ryan Mullaney, Padraig Delaney, Jordan Walshe; Fiachra C Fennell, David Dooley; Aidan Corby, Tomás Keyes, Paddy Purcell; Mark Dowling, Ben Conroy, James Keyes.
Subs: Eoin Fleming, Padraic Dunne, Donnacha Hartnett, Tom Cuddy, Eoin Gaughan, John Lennon, Martin Phelan, Aaron Dunphy, James Duggan, PJ Scully, Colin Byrne.
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Bryan O'Mara, Michael Breen; Craig Morgan, Ronan Maher, Joe Caesar; Willie Connors, Seamus Kennedy; Alan Tynan, Andrew Ormond, Sam O'Farrell; Darragh McCarthy, John McGrath, Jason Forde.
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Kerry hadn't won an All-Ireland in 11 years and had been well beaten by Mayo the year before. 'I just feel that we let ourselves down a little,' says O'Reilly. 'It was much different in Ulster because in '95 we had been in the Ulster final and in '96 we'd been in the Ulster semi-final and all the lads would say, because I retired shortly after that and Stephen King did as well, but we nearly knew we'd win Ulster in '97. 'We were that confident of winning it that we all stayed on and I don't think we just had that same belief when we got to Croke Park and as well as that, to be fair, when you're not there year in, year out it's different. It's difficult. We probably should have won the All-Ireland that year because I believed we were as good as the other teams. We were as good as Mayo as well that got to the final and I believe we were as good as Kerry.' 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He is frustrated by the current team's inconsistency throughout the League and Championship, but their performance in beating Mayo recently offers hope. 'Cavan were very, very good and then you come out again and then you put in a good 20 minutes against Donegal at Breffni Park. We were against a strong breeze and we're within two points of Donegal coming up to half-time and then we conceded a goal and then the second half was a disaster and then very poor again last week so it's very difficult to know what to expect.' And Cormac, who's having his best year yet with the county, wouldn't be giving him the inside track either. 'He tells you absolutely zero about Cavan or what's going on or who would be playing. You'd read more in the paper than he'd actually tell you about what's happening in camp but after a match I would have a chat with him. 'We're up against it obviously but I suppose there's absolutely no pressure on Cavan. 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