YOU know when Croke Park's heart is in something. Last autumn, while your screens were proclaiming Australia and Ireland would be "playing hard", the media were being bombarded with emails from headquarters, updating us every few days on just how much closer each International Rules test was approaching a full house. It wasn't something we were getting in the build-up to the league final last May; somehow, "Seven thousand expected to see climax of football's second-biggest prize" didn't quite sit or spin right. Even last August, when Kerry played Armagh in what was effectively the All Ireland final, there were 50,000 empty spots and few mails from HQ.

But the deluge of emails and ads were en vogue again this past month, again because of the international dimension;

just as they wanted to show the Australians how professional an amateur organisation can be, the GAA have wanted to show the IRFU and the FAI as well. GAA isn't unrivalled, but hype it and they will come. There wasn't an empty seat in Croke Park last night. Croke Park's heart was in it.

Liam Mulvihill is right to say we can't expect full houses every week during the coming few months, that it will take a guaranteed crowd of more than 50,000 to generate the proper atmosphere in Croke Park. But it's something he and his colleagues should aspire to happening at least once more, on league final day in particular. The competition is vastly more prestigious than it was six years ago, largely because of the decision to play it in the one calendar year, and then the advent of Tyrone and Mickey Harte, whose appetite for winning every game rubbed off on Brian Cody and Jack O'Connor.

Champions no longer sleepwalk shadow teams into league grounds.

The first two months of the football league offers more attractive games than the first two months of the championship. It undeniably offers more quality. Last year's championship was eight weeks old before it threw up its first all top-eight clash, Dublin's demolition of Laois.

Over the coming weeks, Division 1A will routinely throw up such games. Today in Castlebar, All Ireland finalists Kerry and Mayo again collide. Next week then so do two All Ireland semi-finalists, Kerry and Cork, while Dublin travel to Donegal; Pillar Caffrey knows he won't have a tougher test in Leinster.

Last week a few GAA heads claimed interest and attendances tend to tailor off as the competition draws to an end. But two of the last three finals have been between Kerry and Galway, counties whose supporters hardly flock to All Ireland semi-finals, let alone league finals. Hype it enough, and in future years, play it on the same bill as the hurling final, and they will come; AIB know that. That might be a test for Mulvihill and his colleagues, especially if the Dubs aren't there, but it shouldn't be that hard a sell either.

This league is going to test everybody because of the consequences it has for next year when the league reverts to the Division One, Two, Three and Four format. In truth, this year's league should have been re-jigged too. Division 1A is infinitely more competitive than 1B, with six of the country's top seven teams in the former. It's not right or fair that next year, either Kildare, Down or Derry will be playing in Division 1 while Mayo, Cork or Dublin will be in Division Two.

Actually, the merits of splitting the top 16 counties into a Division One and Two next year are dubious. Fermanagh, Wexford, Sligo, Westmeath and Limerick made huge strides this decade, something they would not have enjoyed had they not been Division One. Under the old system, they'd have been Division Two teams, and would rarely have got to play top-eight teams like Armagh and Kerry and Dublin. In recent years, they've got to play them, as well as have their share of more winnable games against the Kildares and Offalys of this world.

The new system could exhaust the elite teams too. As overly-competitive as this year's Division 1A is, there's still the odd ease-down game for Kerry in the form of a Limerick or Fermanagh. Next year, there'll be none. It'll be Tyrone one week, Cork the next, probably followed by Armagh, Dublin, Galway and Mayo. Where's the break there? These past few years, the incentive for a team like Kerry to make the top two in their section has been to get that extra game or two against an elite team. Next year, they'll be getting it anyway in the round-robin section; why burst a gut so early in the year?

The one change the GAA must be applauded for is that which they've been lambasted for. Over the last five years, seven counties have failed to qualify for Division One and have never made an impact in the championship - Tipperary, Waterford, Antrim, Carlow, Leitrim, Wicklow and London. Something had to be done about them, like creating a separate division and championship for them, and finally, something has. Finish in the bottom four of your Division Two section this year and you're not just in Division Four next year, you're straight into the Tommy Murphy Cup once you lose in the provincial championship. Waterford manager John Kiely was spitting fire last week asking, "How do I get my lads motivated to play a Tommy Murphy Cup game after running Kerry close in the championship? The Tommy Murphy Cup is a cup for minnows and I'm trying to get my lads to aim high and not think like minnows." Well, good, John.

Beat enough minnows and you won't have to worry about them, which is how Tipperary's John Owens is looking at it. This format isn't based on elitism but merit.

Páidí's under pressure too.

Fail to make that top four and it's the Tommy Murphy Cup, something John Kennedy won in 2004. Given Páidí is hardly in Clare for the long-term, he'll have to win this year, and win early this year.

This time last year we wrote that the Big Three of Armagh, Kerry and Tyrone had annexed the previous eight national titles but that league would represent a chance to break up that dominance. This year, Dublin, Mayo and Cork aren't just within sight of the Big Three but within touch.

Recent history suggests if they're to overtake them in the summer, then they must take them and the league title in the spring. Mayo maybe don't need another league semi-final, though they could do with winning four or so games to re-build confidence.

But Cork and Dublin need to break that play-off barrier.

This past two years they've played some immaculate football in July, but come August the sins of February and March have come back to haunt them; until they develop the knack of winning on the road and getting back to league semi-finals, they're not going to get to All Ireland finals either. With both of them having four home games and no club involved in the AIB semi-finals, they've never been better positioned to make the final stages since they met in the '99 final.

Whoever won last night could win the league. And pack Croker in April.

KIERAN SHANNON'S PROJECTED LEAGUE TABLES FOR NFL 2007
DIVISION 1A Pos County Ramifications 1Dublin League semi-final this year, Division 1 next year 2 Tyrone League semi-final this year, Division 1 next year 3 Kerry Division 1 next year 4 Cork Division 1 next year 5 Mayo Division 2 next year 6 Donegal Division 2 next year 7 Fermanagh Division 3 next year 8 Limerick Division 3 next year
DIVISION 1B Pos County Ramifications 1Laois League semi-final this year; Division 1 next year 2 Galway League semi-"nal this year; Division 1 next year 3 Armagh Division 1 next year 4 Derry Division 1 next year 5 Down Division 2 next year 6 Kildare Division 2 next year 7 Westmeath Division 3 next year 8 Louth Division 3 next year
DIVISION 2A Pos County Ramifications 1Offaly Div 2 semi-final this year; Division 2 next year 2 Monaghan Div. 2 semi-final this year; Division 2 next year 3 Roscommon Division 3 next year 4 Longford Division 3 next year 5 Leitrim Division 4 next year 6 Clare Division 4 next year 7 Carlow Division 4 next year 8 London Division 4 next year DIVISION 2B Pos County Ramifications 1Wexford Div.2 semi-final this year; Division 2 next year 2 Meath Div. 2 semi-final this year; Division 2 next year 3 Cavan Division 3 next year 4 Sligo Division 3 next year 5 Antrim Division 4 next year 6 Wicklow Division 4 next year 7 Tipperary Division 4 next year 8 Waterford Division 4 next year