THAT Ger Loughnane, the new Galway hurling manager, shakes up the hurling world again, on the field and off.

I'm fairly sure he will. True, we might get one or two dust-ups along the way. But in the immortal words of Bill Ooley, a stalwart from the Tara Rocks club in Gorey, at a Wexford county board meeting many years ago: "What's wrong with a bit of a dust-up?"

THAT other managers and teams make up their minds that, should it come to it, they're not going to be ridden over roughshod by Loughnane and his troops.

Even in challenge games.

THAT people stop whinging about the success of Kilkenny and Cork and instead accept that the Big Two set the standards the rest of us must aspire to. Kilkenny and Cork are not the enemy. They're the exemplars.

THAT the Waterford management grasp the nettle and crack the disciplinary whip with one or two of their wayward stars. Fail to do this and the championship will end in tears for the county. Again. Justin McCarthy doesn't need the 15 best players in Waterford to win the All Ireland. He does need the 15 most committed players, though, regardless of how big or small their profile is.

THATTipperary and Limerick, both of whom lost out narrowly at the quarterfinal stage in 2006, maintain their momentum next summer.

THAT Wexford under John Meyler, who it must be remembered will be in his first year as manager, fare better than they have done in recent years and become consistently competitive, starting in the National League.

THAT all of the above hopes come to pass and that, as a direct result, the 2007 championship is the most competitive and exciting for a decade.

That George O'Connor and his colleagues from 1996 continue to develop the underage game in Wexford with enthusiasm and imagination, and that in doing so they realise that if you try to please all of the people all of the time, you'll end up pleasing nobody. Forget any thoughts of short-term success; the very survival of Wexford hurling at the top level is what's at stake here.

THAT the GAA get serious about encouraging technological innovation.

We've been talking for years now about the need to find a way of distinguishing between points and wides. Yet still nothing has been done, and still there are matches every year decided by the wrongful signalling-wide of valid scores.

Leaving everything to the umpires was the only possible course of action 100 years ago. But times have changed. This is yet another area in which the GAA must change with them.

THAT hurlers be encouraged to leave off their helmets for pre-match parades.

This isn't too much to ask. If one county makes the effort, the rest will follow.

Yes, it's only a small thing, but it should be done. If we don't promote our players, we can't expect others to do so for us. As an illustration of what I mean, ask yourself this: how many people would recognise Henry Shefflin if he walked down Grafton Street?

THAT the Government implement PAYE tax credits for intercounty championship panellists in hurling and football. The tax laws acknowledge the contribution to Irish society of artists, writers and musicians, many of whom don't need tax breaks in the first place.

It's time the contribution to Irish society of GAA players, who have an influence and relevance in every parish in the country, was recognised officially in a tangible way. If we can recognise an artist like Robert Ballagh, why can't we recognise an artist like Joe Deane?

THAT the aforementioned Joe Deane makes a full recovery from his recent illness and that we see him back to his best in the red jersey come summer.

THAT we stop whinging about "dirty Australians" and look instead at the beam in our own eye. We're hypocrites, no question about it. We're still suspending players for periods of time during which they won't miss a single match.

Nickey Brennan has had a good start as president, but this is a nut he must crack.

The issue of discipline may well be the one on which his presidency will be regarded as a success or failure.

THAT the sin bin . . . a proper, sensible sin bin . . . be reintroduced. It's coming anyway.

THAT the All Ireland hurling final be brought forward to August.

That floodlights of a minimum standard, suitable for hurling, be installed at as many club grounds as possible. This would free up another five days a week for fixtures.

THAT funding for hurling in the weaker counties be allocated directly from central funds rather than be given to local county boards who regard the game as a burden on their resources and would much prefer to divert the money to football.

THAT the horsey men of Wexford . . .

Aidan O'Brien, Jim Bolger, Colm Murphy, Paul Nolan, Conor O'Dwyer et al . . . continue to reign supreme on the Flat and over jumps.

THAT your club or county lifts silverware in 2007.