A few weeks ago, in the build-up to the Limerick county final, Darragh O’Donovan spoke about the culture in Doon, his club. Derek McGrath, the former Waterford manager, had come on board a year before, and among those who reached out to him were Doon’s intercounty contingent, including O’Donovan. What they weren’t looking for, though, was a pastiche of an inter county set-up. All parties were clear on this distinction.

“Derek hasn’t come in and brought this intercounty mantra,” said O’Donovan, “and this nonsense that I see that has gone on previously in our club and probably goes on in other clubs around the country. It’s absolute nonsense. We enjoy ourselves, we train hard when we have to train, and we have fun.”

All over the country clubs are dicing with this chemical equation, trying not to create Frankenstein. In the pursuit of an edge, or just to keep up with the neighbours, clubs are rummaging through the intercounty scene for transferable practices and people who can deliver them.

In sync, the club scene at elite level has become increasingly attractive to coaches and managers with intercounty experience because the gap in attitudes between ambitious club players and intercounty players has never been smaller. That gap, though, has become a battleground: how far can clubs advance into this no man’s land before they lose something of their essence.

All over the country now, clubs who reach the business end of county cham