GAA: A big weekend for Waterford. Faced with the prospect of losing a National League final, a championship opener and perhaps a Eurovision in the space of eight days it's no wonder the county gives the appearance of being subdued.
Tickets for tomorrow's Guinness Munster championship clash in Thurles have moved only reluctantly compared to the brisk business being done in Clare, as Waterford tries to forget about last weekend's defeat by Galway.
The danger for the county side is they are fast losing their reputation for exasperating mood swings both from day to day and even within the same match. Current realities suggest the team have got the highs out of their system and now under-performs all the time on big days.
That's the worry for manager Justin McCarthy. Even at their best, Waterford's delivery wasn't guaranteed from one day to the next but the urgent concern at this stage is whether they have another spectacular display still in stock.
Tomorrow they face a team everyone believes will be pitch perfect for the occasion. Throughout the Loughnane years one major Clare boast was they always got it right for championship, which, with a couple of exceptions, they did.
As captain, Anthony Daly was a big influence in ensuring as much. Even in retirement he was used for motivational purposes and now before his first championship match as manager he's hardly left anything to chance.
There's enormous faith in Daly to deliver at least a flavour of what he achieved as captain and so far, Clare look revived. Senior players are responding well and a couple of new players have been tested.
Part of the management strategy to freshen up things has been the redeployment of Colin Lynch and more radically, Frank Lohan as the spine of the attack.
The latter's injury during the second phase of the league has limited his match practice to what has been less-than-ideal but he did enough (although maybe significantly the league match with Waterford was one of his quieter outings) to satisfy Daly that he can make a go of full forward.
But anxiety tomorrow won't just centre on how the changes stand up to championship scrutiny but on how the absence of Lynch and Lohan works out at centrefield, where Ollie Baker's willing spirit mightn't be able to drive his weary body for 70 minutes, and corner back.
Then there is the question of Brian Lohan's hamstring. We can be sure the full back hasn't recklessly declared himself fit but it's such an insidious injury no one can be certain about recovery until the player survives a full match.
Waterford have had to improvise in defence but with less than spectacular success. A week ago Eoin McGrath was unveiled as a corner back but only an injury to Damien Hayes prevented a total disaster. The half backs, including Tony Browne and Ken McGrath, were completely disrupted by the industry of a Galway line that had been expected to be under pressure.
Whereas there has been much speculation that McGrath would be switched up front, the word from the county is he'll line out at centre back after the few recent matches on the wing to acclimatise him to the sector. This deployment had been talked about since the start of the season but injury interfered with its implementation until recently.
McGrath's talent is believed by some to be best suited to centre back but it's likely tomorrow's move has more urgent origins: fears that Tony Browne would not be physically capable of restraining Lynch (a scenario that would trigger dark memories).
This isn't to say that McGrath won't be needed up front where last week only Dan Shanahan had the advantage on his marker. John Mullane was shackled by any means to hand and despite trying hard couldn't break free of Damien Joyce. Tomorrow will hardly be any more free and easy.
On top of their game, as they were in the first quarter of the 2002 All-Ireland semi-final, Waterford would have a big chance, given the legitimate questions about Clare's reconfiguration.
Ultimately, though, the most relevant questions are about Waterford and not Clare. They can hardly be as bad again but an objectively good - not merely improved - performance will be needed to win this. In a choice between a Clare side fired up despite their flaws and the chance of a better Waterford championship display than any they have managed in nearly two years, the evidence says Daly will get his career off to a successful start.
CLARE (SH v Waterford): D Fitzgerald; B Quinn, B Lohan, B O'Connell; C Plunkett, S McMahon, G Quinn; O Baker, D McMahon; T Griffin, C Lynch, A Markham; N Gilligan, F Lohan, D Forde.
WATERFORD: S Brenner; J Murray, T Feeney, E Murphy; B Phelan, T Browne, K McGrath; D Bennett, E Kelly; D Shanahan, M Walsh, E McGrath; J Mullane, S Prendergast, P Flynn.
