Ian O'Riordan talks to manager Maurice Leahy about the Kingdom'srevitalised fortunes in hurling.
Waterford, as if they need any reminder, will start the defence of their Munster title against Kerry this Sunday with the anniversary of one of the all-time great hurling surprises.
Ten years ago Kerry ended their championship hopes at the same stage, and despite the great divide that remains between the counties, both managers are wary that history is always capable of repeating itself.
Justin McCarthy, the Waterford manager, last night named his strongest possible side for the game in Walsh Park, reflecting his desire for a top performance, and the not-so-easy task that lies in store. Only defender Declan Prendergast will make a championship debut, with 12 players starting from the team that won the Munster title over Tipperary last June.
But for Maurice Leahy, the Kerry manager, there is more than just the memory of 1993 to inspire his team. Their recent league run was the best in many years, and although they lost the division two final to Antrim last Monday, the preparations have been almost ideal.
"The great thing for us is that the league ran right into the championship," says Leahy, "although maybe too much into it. We'll only have five days to come away from that defeat. But you need competitive games to get ready for the championship and that's definitely what we got over the last few months.
"I suppose last Sunday was a bit of a downer on the day, because we had hoped to win it. Waterford are now a massive challenge, but we'll have a cut at it. I mean we're not going down there to make it easy on them. When that ball is thrown in we'll be thinking only about winning."
Leahy was in fact a Kerry selector with the team that stunned Waterford 4-13 to 3-13. Waterford were known then to be in a development stage, but in the season before, 1992, they had won the All-Ireland under-21 title, and their minor team had also reached the All-Ireland final.
"I suppose the essential difference between now and then is that Waterford hurling wasn't going so well in 1993," recalls Leahy. "And they were primed for a major fall. We came in with a good enough team at the time, and managed to beat them.
"Now of course they're Munster champions, and I'd say with views of going even further this year and winning the All-Ireland. So I honestly don't think they'll be worried about us, but we've got to look at the game from our own side. We've nothing to lose, we're under no pressure, and everyone expects us to get hammered down there.
"But we believe in ourselves. The league was a great experience, and looking back on it now it would have been a year too soon to go to division one. Antrim went to the final last year and lost it too, but now this year they are really ready for division one. And I think we would be ready too come next year."
What Leahy is often asked, however, is what happened after 1993. The record shows Kerry haven't won a championship match since, and things hit rock bottom over the last two years when Kerry opted out of the hurling championship altogether.
"Well, I remember the massive celebrations in the dressing-room afterwards. And for days after that. It was like we'd done what we'd always wanted to do, so we could all pack it in now. It was the closing scene in a film, where everyone was happy and it just finished. We all sat back and no one thought about the following year. So of course everything went downhill after that, and there was the inevitable slump.
"But Kerry hurling is a total roller-coaster, always going up and down. Last year it looked like it was gone forever, but suddenly it's come together again. This year we have all the best players in the county. In the bad years that wasn't the case. And we need the best 15 on the field all the time."
Yet Leahy, who is also the games promotion officer for Kerry, believes he has put together a young and enthusiastic team, most of whom he has coached since primary school, who are now in hurling for the long haul.
"Well, our average age is 23, and two forwards that played last Sunday were only 18. Our full forward Gary O'Brien has just turned 20. So I really hope and feel that this team will stay together. There is great potential there, and some excellent hurlers."
WATERFORD (SH v Kerry): S Brenner; B Flannery, T Feeney, D Prendergast; B Greene, F Hartley, P Queally; T Browne, J Murray; A Moloney, K McGrath, E Kelly; P Flynn, S Prendergast, D Bennett.
KERRY (SH v Waterford): J Healy; H Twomey, M Lucid, I Brick; W Leen, J McCarthy, K O'Sullivan; C Flaherty, A Cronin; M Slattery, B Brick, P O'Connell; S Brick, G O'Brien, J Dooley.
