Tonight the Hurling Development Committee (HDC) meet to finalise their reform proposals for this spring's annual congress. It's not clear when the proposals will be released as they will have to be run past the relevant Croke Park authorities.

There has been speculation about the precise nature of the proposals, but their main provisions are predictable: virtually every county will be guaranteed at least two matches. Galway's situation is central to the proposals as the county is insisting on a guarantee of two matches but won't play in another provincial championship.

Last September's interim proposal (see below) from the HDC provided for at least two matches for all counties except Galway and those defeated in the Ulster championship. It also allowed most teams to lose one match and be readmitted to the championship. Exceptions here were Galway, the Ulster teams plus the Munster and Leinster provincial finalists.

Galway's opposition has ensured that these original ideas will be modified. Nicky Brennan, chairman of the HDC, defends the efforts to keep Galway onside in drawing up the new blueprint.

"It's always better to get a set of proposals everyone's happy with, particularly the hurling counties. You don't want dissent amongst the counties the proposals fundamentally impact on. We don't know at this stage whether the proposals will require a two-thirds majority or not. If it requires that, we will need to minimise opposition. This is trickier than the football proposals because you need to deal with the reaction of those not immediately affected."

His caution is understandable. Brennan's predecessors on the HDC discovered in the past that even the most painstaking reforms could unravel when faced by the implacable conservatism of some counties, notwithstanding their fairly tenuous hurling credentials. Consequently it would be less than ideal to have a major hurling county opposing the reforms, particularly in the light of Galway's invaluable support for the most recent championship reforms, passed at congress five years ago.

There is therefore goodwill towards Galway, but only inasmuch as their core demands can be met. If for instance the county was to be placed within a roundrobin format, the HDC may feel that it had met its obligations. In other words the right is to a guaranteed minimum of championship matches rather than the "right" to lose a match.

Last September's blueprint will be altered in a number of ways. Galway's situation will be addressed, Ulster teams will be allowed to re-enter the championship after losing (it was originally envisaged that only the Ulster champions would be involved in the open draw) and the provincial finalists in Leinster and Munster will also be readmitted.

The last of these alterations is significant. Four months ago the impetus to exclude the defeated provincial finalists seemed largely based on hostility to Offaly's progress to the All-Ireland final after losing their third successive Leinster final. It was illogical in the context of providing more opportunities for decent matches and Brennan says that the provision - like the blueprint itself - was only a work-in-progress and that the new football championship structure that guarantees two matches to all counties has had an impact on the hurling community.

"Not allowing defeated provincial finalists back into the championship was just one option looked at. Those ideas got into the public arena quicker than we would have wanted and were a draft rather a firm proposal.

"I think the bigger influence is the fact that the football proposals are allowing everyone back into the championship, including teams beaten in the provincial final. So the principle is that teams can get back in. I don't think we should be operating different standards in the two codes.

"There are two rationales for changing the championship. One that a lot of teams are getting just one game in a championship season and, two, that under the present structure it is perceived that a county losing the Munster or Leinster final has a 50-50 chance of drawing the Ulster team and being almost guaranteed a place in the All-Ireland semi-finals."

Brennan is quick to spell out the parameters of reform. His committee's proposals are concerned with fleshing out the current, rather insubstantial format rather than curing all the problems of the modern game.

"Whatever system is there, you're just talking about an extra game," he says. "I wouldn't want anyone to think that you can bring in a system which makes All-Ireland champions out of Dublin or Laois. By nature, the strong counties will benefit."