CAUGHT up in the feverish atmosphere of the Munster hurling championship, ahead of Sunday's match on home territory against Tipperary, it is possible that Waterford's young hurlers have not even given it a thought, but they should be aware that they are under the control off the moist philosophical of managers in Tony Mansfield.

Mansfield's script candidly identifies the stark realities of his county's fortunes on the hurling field thus "Waterford's hurling history has been pockmarked by up and downs and ins and outs through the decades. The game in the county will still be there whether we win or lose on Sunday and long after Tony Mansfield, Michael Gaffney, Ollie Wilkinson and these players. We are merely handing on the baton," he says.

Part of the county's chequered hurling existence and the difficulties for their supporters in having to cope with adversity, was encapsulated when Ollie Walsh was beaten six times in the All Ireland final of 1963 and Waterford still lost. That was Waterford's last appearance in an All Ireland decider.

Mansfield deliberately announced his team for Sunday's game before the Tipperary team, was made public. "We can't get ourselves hung up on who Tipperary have or have not got. We purposely picked our team before them and put it out on Sunday," he said.

"If you have some inexperienced players who have not won anything, they need to have self belief and confidence in their own ability. That's what you trade on. If you start getting hung up on who's going to mark Jimmy Barry Murphy, or whoever, then you are lost. It's fifteen against fifteen."

Mansfield's attitude is "There is no team goes out that doesn't get scoring chances. It's simply a question of you capitalising on these chances. In a championship match, it's all about the team that can settle and get stuck into the game."

The teams have met three times since 1983 with the head to head standing 2-1 in Tipperary's favour. Despite home advantage at the compact Walsh Park, Waterford are still underdogs. Tipperary trained on the pitch last Saturday as part of comprehensive preparation. Mansfield also notes Tipperary's thoroughness in training for this championship, particularly the kind of resolve that saw the Tipperary squad move camp to Killaloo for a few days relaxation and hurling, the day after their defeat by Galway in the League final.

The home venue is n&necessarily a big advantage for his team according to Mansfield "Sure the lads are familiar with the ground, and that will help them, but they will still have to get to the ball first."

He adds "What the choice of venue has done is, it has engendered tremendous interest in the championship down here Our job is to keep the team focused on playing a good game of hurling."

Waterford's League campaign fell well short of expectations with only one win over Kerry being the sum total of their reward for a long winter's job of work. They finished that campaign against Offaly in Dungarvan on March 24 in yet another match they might well have won. The same applied on the same ground, against Galway when going down by only two points in the previous round.

Since then they have worked on building up physical strength under the tutelage of Gerry Fitzpatrick, but Mansfield maintains "how much further a player is going to go isn't going to be decided inside structured training sessions. He will have to practice and hone his own skills, in the same way as the golfers and snooker players have to work."

What basically will Mansfield tell his players before going out on Sunday? "Relax, get out there and play to your best ability for Waterford." He adds "If they do and we pull together and get the breaks then I think a win is possible for us."