GAELIC GAMES/Focus on Tipperary hurlers and team news: With the championship now into its second month you'll get little argument that the most impressive team in either football or hurling has been All-Ireland hurling champions Tipperary. Two potentially dangerous matches against Clare and Limerick have showcased the excellent form of the team and the deft management of Nicky English and his selectors.

From a position in which a plague of injuries appeared to have stripped the team nearly bare of its championship credentials, an awkward situation has been turned around with significant contributions from highly motivated panel members.

Noel Morris in particular has impressed at centrefield, having an excellent full debut against Clare and dominating the sector in Sunday's win over Limerick, especially in the final quarter when every dropping ball seemed to come to him as if by remote control. English acknowleges the potential benefits of adversity.

"You're operating a system," he says, "where if you come in and play well and the team wins, you keep your position. In many ways the freshness that you don't get from an All-Ireland team because they're all playing the following year - we've achieved it and maybe in a perverse way the injuries have worked in our favour. You've people in there that are actually holding places - I mean who's our regular midfielder now, Eddie Enright or Noel Morris."

One of the injuries cleared in time for John Carroll to line out against Limerick. His performance was a revelation. Carroll has had a varied career in the short time he has played inter-county. An All Star at wing back two years ago, he converted effectively to centre forward for last year's All-Ireland. Posted at full forward last Sunday he proved irrepressible and scored 1-2 in the first half.

"It's good to see him back," says his manager. "While John was out with the broken bone in his knee, he trained every day, some days twice in the pool and he's got himself into superb condition, better than he was at any stage last year."

Carroll's evident potential on the edge of the square suggests that the most intractable problem facing Tipperary is about to be solved. Since Declan Ryan retired after last year's All-Ireland, the team has lacked a conventional target man at full forward. It's an issue that irritates English.

"You have a problem with the full forward position all the time. I don't necessarily see it as one position. I see it as a forward team who can move around and change around and do their job in any position they're played in. That's the way we look at it."

One scare that theatened the team's equilibrium was the illness picked up by goalkeeper Brendan Cummins. At one stage his participation was in the balance.

"Brendan didn't travel with the team," according to English. "He had a bug. There was a doubt but at the same time he is a goalkeeper so therefore he's not in a position where he has to exert himself as much as outfield players. He's such a major asset to our team that you're prepared to take a chance."

In the cautious world of team management, impressive performances always have a downside: soaring expectations. English is concerned that having come through the harder side of the Munster draw, Tipperary are on a hiding to nothing going into the final against outsiders Waterford, surprise winners over Cork.

"Waterford are in a great position. We would be under less pressure against Cork than we would be against Waterford. There will be an expectation that we're going to win the match and it'll be a major chance for Waterford who have some of the best individual players in the country."

In case such blandishments are considered insufficient with the final less than four weeks away, English goes into specifics.

"Ken McGrath is the best player in the country, Paul Flynn was absolutely superb against Cork so we know it's not going to be easy even though the general perception will be that Tipp will win the Munster final."