After the 2018 All Ireland football championship got underway last weekend, this weekend sees the beginning of the hurling equivalent.
Saturday sees the first of the Leinster round robin as Galway and Offaly go head to head at O'Connor Park, Tullamore. The next day, Kilkenny visit Dublin for a Parnell Park clash as Pat Gilroy makes his hurling championship debut as manager.
To look ahead to the matches, Kilkenny legend Tommy Walsh joined Tommy Martin.
Indeed, he had a Game of Thrones calendar behind him featuring a very much alive Jon Snow as he spoke on Skype and couldn't help making a comparison between the show and the spectacle to come on the hurling fields this summer.
"Kilkenny have gone out there and they've young players with no All Ireland medals. They've no Leinster medals. They went out there and sampled big crowds - big crowds in Wexford Park, in Nowlan Park, big crowds everywhere and they've got a taste of both victory and defeat," he said of the league winners, adding that they got "real confidence" from the league showings.
"I don't know can you see the poster behind me. It's a calendar of Game of Thrones. I don't watch it myself but they all watch it here at home and all the talk is 'what's going to happen, who's going to die this week'. Next minute, they're down in the house here, they're all chatting, 'I can't believe John Stark has died, I can't believe this person has died'.
"Well, I think it's going to be the very same in this Championship. Leinster and Munster. We won't believe some of the results. It's one of the most wonderful times to be a Kilkenny or inter-county supporter and it's a wonderful time to be part of the management and playing teams."
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