Jamesie O'Connor picks three counties who need a big National Hurling League campaign

Intercounty hurling is back. Five months after Limerick regained the Liam MacCarthy Cup, teams are set to do it all over again.

With the proximity of the championship looming over this year's National League, counties are looking to warm up for the main event this summer.

But for some teams, the coming weeks are more important than others.

Cork

The Lee-siders have the unenviable draw of a Munster Championship semi-final against Limerick. The Treaty are the bar for the rest of the country, and remain the team to beat.

In 2018, Cork came agonisingly close to beating Limerick and reaching an All-Ireland final. Since then, the two teams have gone in opposite directions. Granted, Cork did go up to the Gaelic Grounds in the 2019 Munster Championship and win, but they seem to have regressed since.

For a county like Cork, 16 years is a long time to go without winning an All-Ireland. They boast a huge playing pool and big resources. I think it's an important league for them.

Cork have always had the ability to come very quickly with a team, almost overnight.

But there are questions that need to be answered. Defensively, you just don't see how the key positions are going to be filled.

Kieran Kingston and his management team need to be going into the championship with a clear idea about what their starting 15 is going to be.

For instance, John Kiely would be able to name 12 or 13 of the starters for the championship opener today. Most positions pick themselves, and he has a welcome headache with Mike Casey and Richie English coming back from injury.

Cork do not enjoy that clarity. That is something Kingston and Co need to figure out over the coming weeks.

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Galway

What I sometimes find hard to understand with Galway is that they have such a good record at underage, but players do not always transition to the senior grade. Particularly at minor level, they are there or thereabouts year after year.

But you have to question if they have found any players since 2017 who have significantly added to the team.

Joe Canning is not getting any younger. David Burke, Johnny Coen, Joseph Cooney, some of those guys have a lot of miles on the clock.

Look at their age profile compared to Limerick. The majority of the Treaty squad have their best years ahead of them. In Galway, many of the main players might have their best years behind them.

There should have been a greater margin in that All-Ireland semi-final last year than there was at full-time. But the Tribesmen were right there at the death with a few minutes to go.

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If Galway are going to close that gap, they are going to have to find one or two new players.

Why are there not minor players making the transition to the senior grade? Do they taste success too early at minor level, and then they are not prepared to do what needs to be done, and kick on to make it at senior level? Maybe they have a lot of very good players, but no exceptional players that make the step-up to senior.

Galway are contenders this year. There is no doubt about it. They came closer than anybody against Limerick in 2020.

But with an ageing spine of the team, I think it will be important for Shane O'Neill to look at the fringe players over the coming weeks and see what they're made of.

Wexford

I saw Diarmuid O'Keeffe was saying this week that maybe they got their preparations wrong in 2020. They thought the intercounty season would return earlier than it did. By the time the championship rolled around, they just looked flat. The batteries were drained.

The Yellowbellies were well beaten by Galway, and lost to Clare by seven points. They could have no real complaints.

After playing so well in 2019, when they had Tipperary on the ropes in the All-Ireland semi-final, to not have kicked on had to have been disappointing.

There is undoubtedly pressure on them this season too. They certainly cannot afford to be as flat as they were during the winter.

They need to put the disappointment of 2020 to bed early, and build towards the summer.

Do not expect shadow-boxing in the coming weeks...

There will be an element of managers not wanting to completely reveal any aces they might have up their sleeves over the coming weeks. But you cannot overthink these things.

I've been guilty of that in the past. Back in 2001, we played Tipperary in the National League final, a few weeks before we were due to meet in the Munster Championship. In the back of my mind, I was holding back a little bit. That was ridiculous in hindsight.

There is nothing to be gained from that. You have to go out and play each game on its merits. I think teams will be looking at the bigger picture, rather than playing mind games with the opposition.

Brian Cody, Liam Sheedy, John Kiely and the rest, they will only be concerned about themselves. 'What is best for us?'

Yes, everyone is gearing up for the summer and will have one eye on the summer. But a league win will not necessarily detract from that.