They haven't gone away; it's just they're running later this year. The All-Ireland football qualifiers will take shape next weekend when the 16 teams that either haven't made a provincial final or haven't been diverted to the Tommy Murphy Cup go into the hat for the first draw of the qualifier season.
The siphoning off of the eight Division Four teams has meant there aren't as many matches as was usually the case - the idea being to give the clubs more time for their own activity by freeing up a weekend early in the summer.
What is most striking about this year's gathering in the last chance saloon is the quality of the teams and the increased likelihood of pulling a hard assignment in Sunday's draw to be made in Carrick-on-Shannon on the evening of the Leitrim-Galway match.
Half of the All-Ireland winners since the qualifier system was introduced have registered their success after travelling the long way around: Galway (2001), Tyrone (2005) and Kerry (2006).
John O'Mahony, who guided Galway to the title six years ago, is back on the outside track this time with Mayo and Armagh's Joe Kernan is the other manager, who has taken a team the distance - to the 2003 final - after losing in the province.
That was a rare experience for Kernan, the only previous occasion on which his team didn't win the Ulster title and reach the All-Ireland quarter-finals in the most straightforward fashion but as reigning All-Ireland champions the defeat by Monaghan was a sensation.
The long trek through the qualifiers helped rehabilitate the team and Kernan accepts that the gentler early draws against Waterford and Antrim (who nonetheless ran Armagh to three points) helped settle the team.
"It's a good way to get back on track," he says. "The only thing is that you're playing three weeks in a row but you wouldn't be complaining if you were still there the fourth week."
Another disadvantage of the system for the teams in it is that there is very little time to prepare specifically for the opposition.
"It's a bit better this year," according to Kernan, "because you know who you have two weeks before the first round. All through the league you know who you're playing in the first round of the championship and where you're playing. You have time to look at opposition players and get a lot of work done at the same time.
"In the qualifiers you're against a team you haven't been watching and you're in a hurry to get videos and talk to the players, who want to know about the opposition and who they're marking."
Armagh will probably be the least wished for opponents when the draw is made but there are a number of other heavyweight teams such as first-time National League winners Donegal, who crashed against Tyrone at the weekend, as well as the Mayo team that lost to them and reached last year's All-Ireland final.
Another high-profile outfit is Meath, hoping to turn their two big matches with Dublin into a foundation that can get them through to the All-Ireland stages. It's a slog but it beats the alternative.
FootballQualifiers
Westmeath, Cavan, Mayo, Kildare, Limerick, Fermanagh, Armagh, Longford, Louth, Meath, Down, Roscommon, Donegal, Leitrim/Galway, Wexford/Laois, Derry/Monaghan.
If Dublin lose next weekend's Leinster semi-final to Offaly they will bring the number going into the draw to 17, which will necessitate a preliminary match that will be scheduled for the weekend of June 30th/July 1st. If Offaly lose they will proceed to the Tommy Murphy Cup.
