It was a famous Munster victory for the Limerick footballers on Sunday but Billy Lee is not against his side performing in a championship second tier if the structure gets a revamp.
Tipperary were expected to march into the Munster SFC semis but they were deservedly beaten by Limerick, who chalked up their first championship win in seven years.
It was a shock seven-point win for a side that finished second last in Division 4 over their recently relegated Division 2 rivals.
But, if the championship is split into two tiers, as things stand Limerick would find themselves in the second one.
“It gives the lesser teams the opportunity to play on the big days," said Lee, acknowledging an advantage of the status quo at the Munster championship launch recently.
“But I still think there’s a place for another way of going about it, realistically speaking.
"A lot of time is put into playing inter-county now, and there’s an awful lot of talent in many counties not playing it because of the time and little reward involved.
"So I think that’s something we’ll all have to look at and see what's the best way forward.
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"I’d be realistic to know that yeah it (a second tier) is fine, that once there’s a method that if say you are Limerick and you're fortunate enough to be in Division 1, that you can play in the Sam Maguire at that point because you’re a Division 1 team.
“It’s something practical. Look, it’s in already - in hurling.
“I think if you had the top eight football teams going at it week in, week out, you'd have a good championship the very same as the hurling was last year.
“We compare the hurling with the football but we're not comparing like with like, because it’s all grade ‘A’ teams in the hurling championship.
“The football championship doesn’t really kick off until the quarter-finals and the semi-finals."
Lee feels that the four divisions in football provide a better test and more drama.
“People enjoy it," he said. "And right up to the last day there is something happening.
“With the advent of social media everyone is keeping an eye on it.
"It just seems to me that you don’t have that expectation in the early rounds of the championship - that it doesn’t hot up until the Super 8s, and maybe after it.
"You take someone like Roscommon. They were a Super 8 team last year - and Dublin and Tyrone beat them quite comprehensively last year.
“And they are a Super 8 team. So that just tells you as the year goes on, the top teams start to get better and it’s massively a challenge".
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