Tipperary lead the way in the number of players they used in the National Hurling with 38 while Limerick were one behind with 37.
So now we have proof, the very top teams really have been toying with us, and each other, since the start of the National Hurling League.
The National League of Experimentation may be a better title for the GAA's spring-time competition given just how much team tweaking and squad rotation has taken place.
Tipperary, remarkably, have used 38 different players already in the league, in just five games.
Just behind them, holders and All-Ireland champions Limerick are on 37 players used to date while Cork and Clare are both on 34. Kilkenny, on 33, are next.
The really scary thing for those outside of hurling's elite is that four of those five counties - Tipp, Limerick, Clare and Kilkenny - have all reached this weekend's league semi-finals.
Between them, Tipp and Limerick have handed game time to 75 different players since the start of last month yet here they are now, on the cusp of securing more silverware.
The same can be said of Clare and Kilkenny, that even when they're showing us just how much they're prioritising the Championship over the league, by assessing all their options and blooding fresh talent, they're still winning games and being ultra-competitive.
The truth of it is that whatever about producing their A-game, hurling's best teams don't need their A-team anymore, not in the league anyway.
It was pretty much the same last year too with Cork, Limerick and Kilkenny claiming the top three positions in the 2023 league of experimentation whilst simultaneously advancing to the knock-out stages.
Danny Slattery made his league debut for Tipp last weekend during their shellacking of Antrim and in doing so became the 38th player to feature for Liam Cahill this term.
Not a single player has started all five games for Tipp, a county crammed with All-Ireland winning underage talent, and only Craig Morgan, Ronan Maher and Jake Morris have started four matches.
It's a similar story with Limerick. Cathal O'Neill is the only player to have lined out in all five of the Shannonsiders' games, a nod to the extra game time needed for a player to bed down in a new position having been switched from attack to defence.
O'Neill has deputised for a period for Declan Hannon who, along with Ronan Lyons, featured for the first time in this season's league last weekend against Galway, bringing Limerick's overall number up to 37.
Heavy experimentation is nothing new with Limerick. They also used 37 different players across last year's seven-game campaign. The interesting thing about Limerick is that, so far at least, that hasn't corresponded to more players being used in the Championship.
Only 18 different Limerick players have lined out in the last four All-Ireland finals that they've won, between 2020 and 2023, despite the apparent embarrassment of riches at John Kiely's disposal. It is a delicate balancing act that Kiely has so far pulled off, showing loyalty to experienced performers whilst also demonstrating that strong form among fringe and rookie players will be rewarded.
Derek Lyng has looked at 33 players over the last six weeks or so though this was partly due to the large number of players competing in All-Ireland club competitions over winter, delaying their county comebacks.
The return of Declan Dalton and Darragh Fitzgibbon to the pitch for Cork against Offaly in Round 4, brought their number to 34 even at that stage. Again, not a single player has started all five games for Cork, a county that has contested five of the last six All-Ireland U-20 finals, though they still finished with three wins in a row to secure their top-flight status for 2025.
At the bottom of the Division 1B table, experimentation simply wasn't an option for Antrim. The Saffrons endured a haemorrhaging of talent in the closed season and, allied to the need to pick up points wherever possible and to somehow remain competitive with the top teams, Darren Gleeson used just 26 players in their five-game campaign.
Six players - Rory McCloskey, Paddy Burke, Scott Walsh, Ryan McGarry, Niall O'Connor and Fred McCurry - started every match and seven more - Tiernan Smyth, Phelim Duffin, Rian McMullan, Aodhan O'Brien, Conal Cunning, Eoghan Campbell and Niall McKenna - started four matches. Westmeath, who only used 28 players, were in the same boat.
In the less shark infested waters of Division 1, Group B in 2025, there will surely be more room for these teams to try out players.
Wexford perhaps deserve most credit for getting through the league with just one defeat and for securing their top tier status for next season despite being so short on numbers.
Until last weekend when they started Darragh Carley, and brought on Liam Og McGovern and Conor McDonald as subs, in the loss to Cork, they'd only used 24 players.
Injuries have greatly reduced new manager Keith Rossiter's options with Diarmuid O'Keeffe, Oisin Foley, Liam Ryan and Rory O'Connor still to feature this season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF EXPERIMENTATION
(Amount of players used by teams across this season's NHL Division 1 groups)
38 - Tipperary
37 - Limerick
34 - Cork, Clare
33 - Kilkenny
30 - Offaly, Galway, Waterford
28 - Dublin, Westmeath
27 - Wexford
26 - Antrim
