It's all about as sexy as Marty Morrissey's alleged auctioning of his underpants for his local club back in Clare. The competition is back in an end-of-season slot for no other reason than the GAA has no international rules this year and have nowhere else to put the old Railway Cup. A sad state for what should be the showpiece event in both hurling and football when it comes to quality, skill, entertainment and fun.

But hang on a second. This is from an organisation that last week scrapped the round-robin system in the hurling championship and sent the sport back a decade following its best summer in the same timeframe. This is from an organisation that only days ago decided to reintroduce a seeding system in Munster football, meaning the minnows won't see a provincial final for years and allows either Cork or Kerry a route into the last 12 of the All Ireland having lost one game and won no meaningful match-up. This is from an organisation which can barely dream up a cardboard box, never mind think outside of it.

What more did we expect?

In 2001 Martin Donnelly took up sponsorship of the Railway Cup and since then has done all he can to bring a competition back to life that he admits "was on its knees and heading for extinction".

Think about it. In any other area of business can you imagine a sponsor being forced to such lengths. "It was neglected when I came in, " he says. "It was a situation where players were notified the week before about when and where a game was and I remember seeing one year a final was played before 200 people in Nenagh. Once it lost its slot on St Patrick's Day it was the end of it. It was put out of mind and sight. It was there every year alright, still being played away, but never getting the attention it needed."

Donnelly was behind the recent trips to Paris, Rome and Boston for finalists and has helped bring about the slightest regeneration in what should be a huge marketing tool for Gaelic games. And while the GAA were stateside they should have taken a look around them and found guidance in the various All Star weekends when a congregation of the biggest stars in sport and beyond are drawn together. In American football, basketball, baseball and ice hockey, their All Star weekends are seen as the way to promote their respective games. Each year a city is turned into a carnival for a weekend. There's much more than just the game itself.

There are underage All Star games, skills competitions ranging from slam dunk contests, home run contests, hardest-shot contests and longest-pass contests. There is music and parades and a host of celebrities because it is the place to be at. On top of that the players on game day are voted for by the public in a poll that encapsulates a nation. All easily achievable here, yet not too many bartenders in Ballybofey or Fermoy are expecting a bumper weekend in six days' time.

Instead all the GAA have done is decided to play the finals under lights in Croke Park. Problem is, they forgot to tell anyone about it.

"It appears to be marketed as a second-rate event, " says Tyrone manager Mickey Harte. "It's on soon and we have barely heard of it. If the international rules was on we'd be well aware of it.

There's the first instance. If you don't promote something it's every chance of falling flat on its face. It took really heavy marketing to make the international rules successful . . .

actually that's the wrong word . . . popular and it wouldn't have happened if it was treated the way the Railway Cup is. This is the one chance where the best, no matter the county, allegedly weak or strong, can step out and the field and play the best football and hurling any of us can see "But nobody knows. I have seen it nowhere. I haven't seen it in papers, TV, radio, on the big screen during the All Ireland final. I saw all that for the international rules coming on board. What is it all about? The system was cleared for compromise rules, county championships were alerted yet here this is on and county finals are going on everywhere and people are supposed to be getting teams ready. So why isn't there a break and let a focus develop.

When the competition was afforded respect it was a huge success. In this era when marketing is far more affective than at any time in history, it should be applied on a massive scale here. Let children collect vouchers and go to the players' lounge afterwards and meet their heroes.

The opportunities are endless and of course it takes time and effort but Croke Park should be full for these finals."

It won't be though. Nor will they be for many years to come. Instead we are left wondering if we will ever get to see Nicholas Murphy and Darragh O Se line up together because of club commitments. We are left wondering if we'll see Graham Geraghty and Alan Brogan side-by-side because of a lack of interest. If you're one of the dedicated handful that goes along to a huge marketing opportunity the GAA are oblivious to, please let us know.