A look at the teams competing in the Leinster Championship.
Carlow
Manager: Liam Hayes (second year).
Titles: Leinster 1 (1944) All-Ireland 0.
Last year: Beaten Leinster Round One by Wexford 2-10 to 3-12, beaten Qualifier Round Two by Limerick 2-15 to 0-7.
NFL position: Seventh in Division Two A.
After the high jinks of last summer and a winter of gym work, Liam Hayes' side suffered every type of misfortune when they emerged blinking into the daylight.
Injuries decimated them and an O'Byrne Cup hammering at the hands of Westmeath did nothing for morale. The league brought little respite and the main newsworthiness stemmed from a suggestion by Hayes the county move on from wearing its beloved but unintimidating jerseys. It worked in Sligo, but in Carlow the population were dubious.
The league finished well enough and the draw for the summer offers Wicklow in the first round. Great will be the gnashing of teeth in Carlow if they don't win that one.
Dublin
Manager: Paul Caffrey (second year).
Titles: Leinster 46 (2005) All-Ireland 22 (1995).
Last year: Leinster champions, beaten All-Ireland quarter-final by Tyrone 1-14 to 2-18 (replay).
NFL position: Fourth in Division One A.
Dublin made no secret that they would have liked an extended league campaign. Given that they are a work in progress, that journey would have been beneficial. The full back spot is still a worry. Niall O'Shea adds toughness to the defence, though, and liberates Paul Griffin to play wing back. The back six has plenty of football, but not a lot of meanness. Midfield will want more from Ciarán Whelan, but with Shane Ryan and (injury permitting) Darren Magee competing for places, a sense of insecurity might provoke that.
Dublin are weaning themselves off their dependency on Alan Brogan. Kevin Bonner looked an option at full forward, and Conal Keaney could be the strong wing forward they've lacked. After that, the competition is healthy with only Mossy Quinn and Bryan Cullen guaranteed to start. Dublin need a win over Laois to get the momentum which might make them contenders.
Kildare
Manager: John Crofton (first year).
Titles: Leinster 12 (2000), All-Ireland 4 (1928).
Last year: Beaten Leinster semi-final by Laois 0-9 to 0-21, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round Two by Sligo 1-10 to 1-11.
NFL position: Fifth in Division One B.
Burned off by Laois' pace a year ago, Kildare, after a positive league, are more than capable of pulling through the more competitive side of the draw now that Dublin and Laois are scheduled for the other semi-final. Still too dependent on John Doyle up front and keeping fingers crossed for Dermot Earley's full recovery from a broken collarbone.
Laois
Manager: Mick O'Dwyer (fourth year).
Titles: Leinster 6 (2003), All-Ireland 0.
Last year: Beaten Leinster final by Dublin 0-13 to 0-14, beaten All-Ireland quarter-final by Armagh 1-11 to 2-17.
NFL position: First in Division One B, beaten in league semi-final.
With O'Dwyer about to take his leave, Laois need to make something of this year for the era to avoid the taint of underachievement. They could easily be on a four-in-a-row in the province this year, instead of looking to add to the solitary success of 2003.
Despite Micko's chuckles about looking forward to taking on the northern teams, Laois have been evicted from the last three All-Irelands with escalating degrees of severity by either Armagh or Tyrone.
Took a few Ulster scalps in the league. Need to win Leinster and an All-Ireland quarter-final.
Longford
Manager: Luke Dempsey (first year).
Titles: Leinster 1 (1968) All-Ireland 0.
Last year: Beaten Leinster Round One by Dublin 0-10 to 2-23, beaten Qualifier Round One by Sligo 0-16 to 0-18.
NFL position: Fifth in Division Two A.
When Luke Dempsey rode into town he asked for permission to take the reigns of the under-21 squad as well. Longford had minor provincial champions in 2002 and the remnants of that team made the under-21 Leinster final this spring.
Dempsey willingly concedes that the good work being done in the county is more likely to bear fruit in three or four years' time, than to produce any shocks this summer.
Beaten by 19 points when they played Dublin last summer. The margin will be more slender this time, but the Leinster campaign ends there.
Louth
Manager: Eamonn McEneaney (first year).
Titles: Leinster 8 (1957), All-Ireland 3 (1957).
Last year: Beaten Leinster Preliminary Round by Offaly 1-6 to 1-15, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round Three by Monaghan 0-14 to 1-12.
NFL position: First in Division Two B, League winners.
A remarkable transformation in fortunes this season saw the first county eliminated from last year's championship storm Division Two to win the title as well as promotion. Louth were top scorers in the league and have been playing good football, which has contributed to rising hopes ahead of the upcoming clash with neighbours Meath.
Meath
Manager: Eamonn Barry (first year).
Titles: Leinster 20 (2001), All-Ireland 7 (1999).
Last year: Beaten Leinster Quarter-final by Dublin 1-10 to 1-12, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round Three by Cavan 1-6 to 1-8.
NFL position: Seventh in Division One B, relegated.
The short post-Boylan era has already been turbulent. The messy and controversial handover to Eamon Barry has been followed by a hard-luck relegation story.
The row with Graham Geraghty was resolved and he and Nigel Crawford are now the only two All-Ireland winners in the starting line up. But a good run in the championship isn't impossible with Dublin and Laois on the other side of the draw.
Offaly
Manager: Kevin Kilmurray (second year).
Titles: Leinster 10 (1997) All-Ireland 3 (1982).
Last year: Beaten Leinster Quarter-final by Laois 1-10 to 1-8, beaten Qualifier Round One by Carlow 1-10 to 1-14.
NFL position: Seventh in Division One A, Relegated.
Kevin Kilmurray and his Offaly side seem destined to always emerge on the wrong side of an unfortunate series of events. Mugged by Carlow last summer, they were unlucky to find themselves on the long slide down to second division football after a league campaign in which they played a lot of decent football.
The bright side is the emerging talent in a forward line, which even against Tyrone looked dangerous. The path to a Leinster title looks long and hazardous, however.
Westmeath
Manager: Tomás Ó Flatharta (first year).
Titles: Leinster 1 (2004), All-Ireland 0.
Last year: Beaten Leinster Quarter-final by Kildare 0-11 to 0-14, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round Two by Clare 0-9 to 0-12.
NFL position: Second in Division Two B, Beaten in league semi-final.
Miraculous revival in NFL after a poor start threatened their promotion prospects sees them continue a yo-yo league existence.
Westmeath's prospects have been radically transformed by the news of Dessie Dolan's injury, which is likely to keep him out of the entire Leinster championship.
They may not be a one-man team, but with Rory O'Connell calling it a day, they're not the side that won Leinster in 2004.
Wexford
Manager: Paul Bealin (first year).
Titles: Leinster 10 (1945), All-Ireland 5 (1918).
Last year: Beaten Leinster Semi-final by Dublin 2-10 to 1-17, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round Two by Monaghan 0-12 to 0-17.
NFL position: Eighth in Division One B, Relegated.
Although the trend of the past 12 months since losing the league final has been bleak, morale is reasonably good. Paul Bealin's management started slowly, but with the focus on the championship. Accordingly, performances picked up at the end of the league but not in time to escape relegation. Still asking a lot to recover momentum.
Wicklow
Manager: Hugh Kenny (third year).
Titles: Leinster none, All-Ireland 0.
Last year: Beaten Leinster Preliminary Round by Kildare 2-12 to 1-17, beaten All-Ireland Qualifier Round One by Donegal 0-12 to 0-16.
NFL position: Eighth in Division Two B.
A frustrating NFL campaign saw Hugh Kenny's rebuilding programme deliver competitive performances, but not much in the way of results. Last year, Wicklow belied a lacklustre league to show well against Kildare and Donegal, but with a less settled team it will be hard to repeat that this year.
