This is a Munster final in Thurles. They don't happen too often and when they have there's been a lot of unscripted stuff. I can go back to 1990 when we were going for four in a row in the Munster championship.

We were 4 to 1 on favourites, much like Cork are tomorrow. None of us had heard of Mark Foley and Brendan O'Sullivan. Mark Foley scored 2-7 and Brendan O'Sullivan was outstanding at midfield. The following year Kevin Hennessy's goal put Cork nine ahead in the second half but we came back to win.

The margins in Tipp-Cork matches in Thurles have generally been narrow enough, and when you're favourites you don't see it coming.

John Allen and the Cork management are telling them to be wary of Tipp and to go out and do their jobs, and that's maybe four times a week, but everyone they meet everywhere they go is saying "you should win it", and that's a dangerous preparation.

Tipp have made changes that I think add strength but they've been under pressure to win enough ball and that's particularly centred on the half-forward line. Yet the same line that has started both days in the championship starts again tomorrow, and that's a worry. It's the weakest line coming up against Cork's strongest.

I don't think it would have been an easy decision for Babs Keating and the management to drop Philip Maher, and it shows how highly Paul Ormonde is rated that he's coming in for his first championship game in four injury-disrupted years.

If he's the Paul Ormonde he was in 2002 he'll be a very positive addition to the Tipperary full-back line, because he's very experienced and a very good leader - a key influence in the All-Ireland win in 2001. It's a big step coming back straight into a Munster final in Thurles but he's been showing good form in training and with his club.

It also shows the decisiveness of the management in taking a radical step like this. The easiest decision was to bring Larry Corbett back into the forwards - the only difficulty there was where he was going to play, in the half forwards or replace Micheál Webster in the full-forward line.

Diarmaid Fitzgerald has been playing full forward and Webster is a better full forward than corner forward. Larry, on the basis of the cameo against Waterford and his training, had to come back in.

Paul Kelly returning was probably more a toss of the coin. He has shown little if any form so far this year and had a relatively quiet national league campaign before picking up a hamstring injury. He's a very talented hurler and if he's fit enough he's a serious player. It will be a worry though for Tipperary that his defence and willingness to mark up have been questionable. Most of his best work has been done with the ball in midfield. It's an attitude and he has to be prepared to work hard when he doesn't have the ball.

A lot of Cork play comes from the half backs and midfield. Shane McGrath has shown very well in the first two games. He's a very, very willing worker, covering a lot of ground, and a snappy hurler. I don't think he'll be out of his depth on Sunday.

Eoin Kelly's scoring performances have been phenomenal, even though for a long period of the Waterford game he was held relatively well by Eoin Murphy, but he racked up a lot of scores.

The flip side is that whereas Tipp knew coming into the championship they were reliant on Eoin Kelly, I don't think anyone thought they were as reliant as it turned out in the first two matches. He's moved onto another level in terms of the scores he's been getting but he has been helped by naivety on the part of the opposition.

Damien Reale didn't play on him and Waterford gave the job to a totally inexperienced player, Denis Coffey.

That's a worry for Tipp because Brian Murphy at the moment is probably the number one corner back in the country. He's a totally unselfish defender who doesn't break his concentration to go hurling himself, which makes him a dangerous corner back.

Diarmaid Fitzgerald is the other plus in the Tipperary attack. He's aggressive and hard to deal with because he's very direct and just runs with the ball. His scoring ability is questionable but he's excellent at winning and laying off ball. It's a good full-forward line but the trouble will be getting ball through the Cork half backs.

I'll be surprised if Cork play any better than they did against Clare. They were really ready for Clare.

It surprised me as there was a feeling that Clare could win because maybe it wasn't that important for Cork, who would be planning to come along strongly later in the year.

I hadn't seen Joe Deane or Ronan Curran look in better shape for a while. How they're going to move up from or even maintain that level until September is the issue. It might be a little opportunity for Tipp in that Cork may not consider them as big a threat as Clare.

But realistically Tipp are outsiders on all known form. They are a value bet at 4 to 1 but Cork have a definite edge.