There is a mood for change in the Leinster SFC, with the introduction of a round-robin stage now a distinct possibility.

Two initial groups of three, involving six of the weaker counties in the province playing each other on a round-robin basis, have been mooted, but the biggest stumbling block to this is that existing GAA rules decree that all provincial championships must be run on a strictly knock-out basis.

Therefore, Leinster Council will put a motion to Congress this month asking that all provinces are allowed to run their internal championships as they wish.

Ss fears grow of dropping standards in the province (outside Dublin, of course), new Leinster chief executive Michael Reynolds says the feedback from a series of meeting with county representaives last Autumn was that change is needed:

"We discussed the current rule and decided there was no point in pressing ahead with any plans until we sought change," he tells The Irish Independent.

"It's an effort to try and improve things and I would say, for some counties, qualifiers are gone stale. They don't take them as seriously.

"What is more worrying is the rather poor level of competition among many of the other counties in games not involving Dublin. It is clear that there are now three, if not four, levels in the Leinster senior football championship."

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