GAELIC GAMES/Cork v Waterford: Off we go again. Waterford at the gate and the neutrals all like nodding dogs, assenting that it would be great for hurling, lovely for the game, fantastic for civilisation if the Déise were to dip the shoulder and barge through.
Well? Can it be? The nodding dogs have been bitten twice in recent years and are shy about barking the odds on a Waterford win this time around.
It's not so long ago we were on the streets howling plaintively that Justin (McCarthy) would hang on longer than Fidel and the fizz would fall away from the revolution. Fairly recently also we were yelping that Waterford seemed to have a dozen and a half hurlers within their borders and when those few felt poorly the trouble started.
What do we know? Against a Tipp team maybe 25 per cent short of top-grade personnel, Waterford didn't just have the requisite vim and vigour, they knew what they were doing. Plus they brought on five subs, all of whom with the exception of Paul O'Brien got a good chunk of playing time, and none of them weakened the brew. Justin may be an old dog but he has learned new tricks.
Waterford were the last team to beat Cork in the championship, and it's only a small surprise to note neither side have altered much in the two years since that day in Semple Stadium.
In red, Wayne Sherlock has been nailed to the bench and Garvan of the all-McCarthy half-forward line has been disappeared.
Waterford's trimming and tucking is just as modest. New goalkeeper. Tom Feeney at full back, Paul Flynn and Dave Bennett missing through injury.
Yet Waterford appear suddenly to have more options. Last summer in Semple Stadium, Eoin Kelly had taken Seán Óg Ó hAilpín for four points before needs called him to duty elsewhere. Dan Shanahan wasn't fancied much toiling against Seán Óg.
Given the Kelly improvement graph is continuing as the season gets older and Shanahan looks a more complete player now, Waterford would be happy with either man taking a turn at right half tomorrow.
What happens at midfield will be interesting. Cork are as happy as can be with what Tom Kenny and Jerry O'Connor do for them. Waterford's task there is containment.
Brian Phelan is picked to start in the middle having impressed, apparently, in a trial last Sunday. We can assume, though, Michael Walsh, excellent against Tipp, will also be invited to join the sector.
That leaves two possibilities. Big Dan into the hole to hurl against The Rock, with Kelly perhaps going out to say hello to Seán Óg. Or Waterford flooding the midfield hoping to bust Cork up a little.
Signs against Tipp the last day were that Waterford have lost their innocence a little and stop the runners from far out. The half-back line have the ability to at least match their Cork counterparts and the bench has the luxury of being able to make changes as the game proceeds. Phelan can be restored to the half backs at any given moment.
The realisation that Waterford aren't wholly dependent on the first 15 all hitting the same high note is shocking. No Flynn or Bennett in the parade tomorrow yet the odds aren't altered much and the bench is further strengthened.
Jack Kennedy gets a deserved start in a forward line which for virtually the first time seemed comfortable the last day with the constant shuffling and musical chairs the Waterford management have a penchant for.
Still, Waterford need more. They need Ken McGrath to start with the same assurance he finished with the last day. They need (John) Mullane's fire to be raging rather than flickering. They need Séamus Prendergast to have another good day on Ronan Curran. They need Tom Feeney to step up to the wily Mr Corcoran as confidently as he stepped up to Diarmaid Fitzgerald. And if Phelan stays around the middle they need him to be more convincing under a dropping ball.
There's the rub. Waterford need the cards to fall. It can happen, certainly it can happen, and if it doesn't happen, McCarthy has other cards too. They have the hurling to win tomorrow but Cork have the proven elements.
Shutting off the Cork midfield is like inventing a cure for cancer. Everyone wants to do it but . . . The elements are in place to pressure Cork's half backs but again last summer that sector seemed to have learned how to deal with Waterford.
Certainty counts for something in Croke Park. Cork have fewer options but they have the conviction that comes from empirical testing of all components. If it's close at the death that conviction will make the difference but Waterford have the ability to kill the game before that.
Neutrals may proceed with tails wagging.
CORK: D Óg Cusack; B Murphy, D O'Sullivan, P Mulcahy; J Gardiner, R Curran, S Óg Ó hAilpín; T Kenny, J O'Connor; T McCarthy, N McCarthy, N Ronan; B O'Connor, B Corcoran, J Deane. Subs: M Coleman, W Sherlock, C O'Connor, P Kelly, K Hartnett, K Murphy (Sarsfields), K Murphy (Érin's Own), C Naughton, C Cusack, P Cronin, A Nash, S O'Neill, C McCann, K Cronin.
WATERFORD: C Hennessy; D Prendergast, T Feeney, E Murphy; T Browne, K McGrath, J Murray; E Kelly, B Phelan; D Shanahan, S Prendergast, J Kennedy; J Mullane, M Walsh, E McGrath.
