Galway manager Micheál Donoghue appears to have found his defensive spine ahead of the 2025 championship, reckons former Antrim hurler Neil McManus.
Donoghue's side head to the Gaelic Grounds for their penultimate game of the league phase, having racked up three wins on the bounce in response to their opening round shellacking at the hands of Tipperary.
The home loss to Tipp had sparked fears that the westerners were in for a very bumpy and difficult transition period, coming off the back of their no-show in last year's Leinster championship, which saw them eliminated at the round robin phase.
Donoghue, who guided Galway to the All-Ireland title in 2017, returned from Dublin for his second stint in charge and has used a whopping 37 players in the opening four rounds of this year's Division 1A campaign.
The Galway boss settled on his Clarinbridge clubmate Gavin Lee in the centre-back berth, the 21-year old delivering a stellar performance in the Round 2 win away in Kilkenny.
In attack, Loughrea's Anthony Burns has announced himself, firing a brace of goals in the victory over Clare, and adding another in last weekend's win over Wexford.
"The age profile is quite nice. Yes, he has still got some of the older guys, the Conor Whelans - who is just exceptional - and he has brought in some fresh blood around him.
"A problem area for Galway was the spine of the defence and they've changed that a lot recently.
"I think Daithí (Burke) is probably a little bit more at home at No 4 or 2 - although he has four All-Stars at full-back in consecutive years. Because he loves to attack, I think starting him in the corner suits him.
"Gavin Lee at 6 as well, that allows Padraic Mannion to play in his preferred wing back position. There's a nicer balance to that.
"He also is getting a great kick off the bench. I think he'll be one of the happier managers in Division 1 at the minute.
"I know Joe Canning has said he doesn't care about the league. But I think it was important for them to make a bit of a statement and have a strong start to the year.
"I think they'll be really looking forward to Saturday night."
Galway are second to Tipperary on score difference at the top of Division 1A, with both sides coming off wretched 2024 campaigns.
And McManus feels that league glory is only really of interest to those seeking to distance themselves from last season.
"I hear some counties talking about getting to a league final. That's only really important for teams who had a poor year previous to this.
"Probably both Galway and Tipperary would like to be in a league final. They would like to have the opportunity to bring some silverware. Because they wouldn't be happy with their performance over the course of 2024.
"For your Kilkennys, your Clares, your Limericks, I don't think they're hugely interested.
"I don't think Clare, as long as they survive, will be too bothered about losing their opening couple of games. I don't think it will affect their season in any way, shape or form. The Munster championship is where they're going to get really serious about things.
"Most teams are trying to unearth a couple of players, using the league as they have done previously. But for teams who have suffered in 2024, they would like to be in a league final and they would like to bring some silverware into their changing rooms because, as Liam Sheedy said, it never hurts."
