"It's the best hurling championship we have had in a long time and we are only getting into the main course at this stage."

However, there have been concerns regarding the health of the overall competition this season, particularly in Leinster where Kilkenny took their ninth crown in 10 years.

Brennan is keen to bring together top provincial officials for a think-tank ahead of the All-Ireland final to examine competition structures.

"We will be bringing together some of the senior provincial officials and having a chat with them about what they have to say.

"Let's be clear on this, Central Council has ordained on what the structures will be in terms of the league and Congress the championship," he explained.

"Nevertheless, I intend bringing together the relevant officials at provincial level for a post-championship review to see what their thoughts are in relation to the hurling competitions going forward."

Offaly were relegated to Division Two following a dismal National League campaign this season but manager John McIntyre has warned that this will "set back hurling in the county by a decade" if the Faithfuls are forced into "the wastelands of Division Two".

Brennan also hinted that those concerns may be addressed.

"That may be possible but the reality is that it went through Central Council twice and we have to respect their views," he said. "People get their opportunities to speak

"At this point in time I want to stand back a little bit from it and not influence the debate too much and also not say that certain things shouldn't be discussed either.

"Let's see what the people have to say from all four provinces."

Offaly are in Division Two after finishing fifth in Division 1A this season and they then lost a play-off to Limerick who subsequently beat Laois, and retained their top-flight status as one of the nine teams in next year's restructured Division One.

However Offaly contend that there should be 10 teams in Division One and that it is they, and not Limerick, who should have faced Laois in the play-off.

Meanwhile, Brennan was quick to dispel any conspiracy theories over the appointment of Wexford referee Dickie Murphy for Sunday's All-Ireland SHC quarter-final between Galway and Kilkenny.

Initially Limerick referee Pat O'Connor had been asked to take charge of the game, but Brennan gave the reasons behind the swift change of official.

"When referees are selected to referee matches they will get a text from the office saying that: 'You are picked to referee A versus B, are you available?'

"Obviously the announcements were made simultaneously with that.

"Pat O'Connor contacted the office this morning to say that he was unavailable as he works some Sundays," Brennan said.

"He had indicated from a long way back that there were days where he wouldn't be available."

"He (O'Connor) is not available to referee the Kilkenny-Galway match, Dickie Murphy is doing it instead. There are no sinister motives behind that. There may be a switch of some others in the football as well but I am unsure of the details."

The announcement comes after Galway boss Ger Loughnane called on Sunday's match referee to protect his players from Kilkenny's "savagery", much to the disappointment of Kilkenny officials who have called on Loughnane to "give instance of this 'savagery'."

Sunday's encounter is Murphy's first inter-county championship game of the year. The Wexford man was off the refereeing circuit for almost two years due to his involvement with the Wexford senior hurlers as a selector, but took up the whistle again in 2005.

The last major game he took charge of was last year's Munster final at Semple Stadium which resulted in a win for Cork over Tipperary.

Sunday's game between Galway and Kilkenny, which is being shown live on RTÉ Two, has a 4pm start and is the final part of a triple header at Croke Park with the SHC quarter-final between Wexford and Tipperary on at 2pm and the minor quarter-final clash between Antrim and Kilkenny at 12.15pm.