In this week's blog we admire the forthright style of Liam Dunne, wonder at the merit of playing a sweeper against 14-men and scratch our heads in disbelief at the hurling qualifier structure.

Straight-talking Dunne is one of a kind

When dealing with the media, the default mode for most intercounty managers is to keep their cards close to their chest.

Not so Liam Dunne however. The Wexford hurling boss says what he thinks and doesn't worry about repercussions that may follow.

On Saturday evening, for instance, the 1996 All-Ireland winning centre-back wondered aloud whether or not dual player Lee Chin would be better off concentrating on being a very good hurler rather than an average footballer.

His naming of a bogus team for the match also irked some but anyone waiting for him to apologise will have been left disappointed- "I'm managing the team and I'll do it whatever way I like."

Post-match interviews would certainly be a lot more interesting, and relevant, if others managers took a leaf out of Dunne's book.

Dawson sweeps criticism under the carpet

Frank Dawson had to defend his tactic of employing a sweeper following yesterday's Ulster SFC quarter-final loss to Monaghan.

A few weeks ago, Paul Grimley came under fire for not dropping an extra man back against Cavan.

The big difference, of course, is that Dawson stuck with Plan A even when Monaghan were reduced to 14-men following the dismissal of centre-back Neil McAdam early in the second half.

No surprise then, perhaps, that the Saffrons could engineer just two second half points. Antrim followers were left scratching their heads when the manager persisted with his damage limitation exercise against the 14-men of Monaghan.

His claim afterwards that the 0-6 to 0-11 defeat following a dour 70 minutes of football helped restore pride in the Antrim jersey was equally perplexing.

Qualifier structures don't make sense

This morning the draws were held for the Preliminary and Phase 1 Rounds of the SHC. These involve the seven counties that failed to make it to their provincial semi-finals who will play off over two rounds to be whittled down to two teams.

Tipperary meanwhile are in Phase 2 which will comprise the four beaten provincial semi-finalists. Potentially their opponents will be either Cork/Clare, Wexford/Dublin/Kilkenny or Galway/Laois.

The winners of Phase 1 and Phase 2 meet in Phase 3 with places in the All-Ireland quarter-finals up for grabs.

Look at it from the point of Dublin and Wexford, who replay their Leinster quarter-final this weekend. Neither will be expected to beat Kilkenny should they progress to the Leinster semi-final, so which is the best backdoor route to take?

The loser of the replay is at home to Antrim in the preliminary round and then if they win, at home to Carlow in Phase 1. Win those two games and you are one match away from an All-Ireland quarter-final.

The replay winner faces Kilkenny, and if they lose that could end up playing Tipperary before progressing to Phase 3.

Getting to a provincial semi-final should see you being rewarded compared to the teams that excited the championship at an earlier stage, but that is clearly not the case.

Phase 1 should have seen the seven teams from this morning's draw go into a hat with three games taking place. The winners, along with one team which receives a bye, progress to Phase 2 to play the four beaten provincial semi-finalists. The four winners of these games progress to Phase 3 with two places in the All-Ireland quarter-finals up for grabs.

That's progressive, logical and makes sense, but then when did that ever matter? Tweet

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