The 'Super 8' structure is to be introduced into Gaelic football next year, and Clare's Tony Kelly hopes to see a similar format brought into the Hurling Championship in the near future.
Unlike the football championship, there is not stage in the hurling equivalent, where eight teams remain in the championship. Four teams take part in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, with the two winners advancing to face the provincial winners in the semi-finals.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, the 2013 Hurler of the Year said he would love to see the 'Super 8' brought into the Hurling Championship, even if it meant ending the Munster Championship.
"I hear a lot of lads giving out about the Super 8 in the football but if something like that was to come into the hurling I'd be a fan of it. There's less hurling teams - every football county in Ireland wants to play in the All-Ireland", the Ballyea star added.
"In hurling you have less teams coming to the table. Something like the Super 8 in hurling would give better games."
"Last year, there was only two good semi-finals and a final really. If you had games like that in July and August, it would bring on hurling leaps and bounds. We don't have as many hurling teams as football but I think something like that would really benefit hurling."
Kelly feels that having a format similar to the National League would see the Hurling Championship become more popular each summer.
"If you look at Division 1A hurling now how tight it is, if you had something like that in the middle of the Championship it would be a really good Championship."
The 23-year-old has taken a back seat in Clare's league campaign as he prepares for the All-Ireland Club Hurling Final for Ballyea against Dublin's Cuala.
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