The full ramifications of the new Championship format won’t become clear until much later in the season, but Declan Morgan knows every team in Division Three will be vying for first place in the League.
It is perhaps the best chance for most of the teams in the division to avoid the Tailteann Cup and make the top 16 for a chance to compete for the Sam Maguire Cup.
Yet, not even the promoted teams in Division Three will be guaranteed a place in the Sam Maguire round-robin, such is the complexities of the controversial new system.
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The eight provincial finalists will all be assured of a place in the top Championship grade with the next seven teams selected based on League rankings at the end of the Spring.
The other place is reserved for 2022 Tailteann Cup winners Westmeath, but the lopsided nature of the Connacht Championship draw will also ensure that one of London, Sligo, New York or Leitrim will be in the provincial final and, therefore, the Sam Maguire Cup.
Westmeath reaching the Leinster decider would essentially free up another berth, but the new Down management team know they’ve plenty of big challenges ahead before thinking about their Championship fate.
“We’ve been looking at that - how you might make your way into that by possibly winning Division Three, but you’ve six or seven teams there who are all thinking exactly the same,” said Morgan.
“It’s no gimme for anybody. If you were lucky enough to be in the promotion shake-up to even go into Division Two next year, you’d be delighted.
“If you were lucky enough to win Division Three and, somehow with the way it’s structured, get into the Sam Maguire, you’d be delighted.
“But that’s a long way off for us. We’re only thinking about getting into January and getting the squad playing games.”
Down begin their 2023 season under new manager Conor Laverty this evening with a trip to Castleblayney to take on Monaghan before hosting Donegal in Newry on Sunday.
Should the Mournemen fail to progress in the Dr McKenna Cup, their next outing will be their Allianz League opener away to Tipperary and Morgan knows how important a good start in such a tight division will be.
“We’re away to Tipperary in Semple Stadium, the Saturday evening at six o’clock, which is a serious game,” added Morgan.
“That’s a big one. Division Three this year is cut-throat this year. Cavan and Westmeath in there, two brilliant teams who were excellent last year.
“Antrim and Fermanagh are in there as well, you’re gonna have a lot of local derbies, Longford and Offaly – it’s a serious League.”
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