Leinster Hurling final:  Although Nicky English expects Wexford to come out with all guns blazing, he doesn't expect to witness an upset tomorrow.

Most neutrals heading for Croke Park tomorrow will be hoping for a bit of the usual Vinegar Hill stuff from Wexford. In recent years the sight of Kilkenny seems to bring more out of them than the earlier rounds in Leinster or certainly the matches thereafter, like last year's quarter-final against Clare when they were hopeless.

I've some doubts about the reliability of the Leinster semi-final with Offaly in Nowlan Park. The pitch, or the conditions, or the wind, or all three, affected the teams and I would be surprised if either Wexford or Offaly were as bad as they looked that day.

That match with a 0-9 to 0-8 scoreline and chances going a-begging was just too awful to be true. Therefore, Wexford could be a bit better than they looked that day.

Go through their team and they have one of the best defences in the country, starting with Damien Fitzhenry, who looks in good shape this year. Doc O'Connor and Keith Rossiter were outstanding the last day and really snuffed out the challenge of young Joe Bergin and Brian Carroll.

Centre back Declan Ruth has always played well on Henry Shefflin, but I think Shefflin has to play near to the goal - 14 or 15. Eoin Larkin is the best centre forward that they have. In the league final he looked a lot more mature, although he's still young. He's more suited to the position than Shefflin, who's a deadly finisher and gets more chances at goal playing in the full forward line.

Centre forwards need to make the play more and nowadays are expected to be workhorses and, anyway, Kilkenny need a scorer on the inside line, particularly now that DJ isn't there any more to provide that threat.

The corner forwards aren't physically imposing, so as well as being the most experienced of the forwards, Henry's the biggest as well. I'll be very surprised if Doc O'Connor doesn't mark him. He has both the physical attributes and the experience.

This weekend will tell us a lot about Kilkenny. We haven't seen much of them since the league. At that stage they looked the best team in it, but how that translates into championship we don't know yet.

I am somewhat doubtful about the league this year. Look at the side that finished second, Limerick. There might be extraneous reasons, but they ended up in free-fall so maybe they were never that good. Tipp's form in the championship and the league have been totally different and Cork ditto.

Richie Power has some experience. Cha Fitzpatrick had some experience two years ago, but got none last year. Eoin McCormack is new. So is Willie O'Dwyer. You've a whole range of new players from number eight up.

The Wexford backs were excellent against Offaly and I thought they were genuinely good. They won a lot of high ball and whatever issues they have are from there up.

I was impressed though with Stephen Doyle the last day. In possession he looked to be trying to do the right thing. He was very intelligent and had the appearance of someone to watch out for.

I can't see an upset based on what we saw from Wexford the last day - even allowing for the caveats about that match being possibly misleading and the fact they have a good defence. After watching Cork last weekend, Kilkenny will be the team that will challenge the champions this year, even if they have to evolve a bit yet.

The match of the day, however, could well be Waterford v Galway. Home advantage counts for a lot in the qualifiers and Walsh Park is a very hard place to win for visiting teams. I think Waterford will win this.

On the back of an encouraging performance in last week's Munster final, it must have come as some shock to Tipperary supporters to hear the news of disciplinary issues arising in the panel and the fallout. If players want to succeed at the highest level there are sacrifices that have to be made and behavioural codes that have to be followed.

The current management have shown in the run-up to the Munster final that they were prepared to make changes in key positions. Again in this case they have taken another hard decision - to drop the captain.

It's disappointing that someone in the position should leave himself open to that censure, and how the team respond will define their chances in the quarter-final. After a see-saw week, Tipperary supporters will be hoping that the positive signs from last weekend outweigh the negative.

Finally, I'd like to wish the Carlow minors all the best going into their final tomorrow. It's a great achievement to have beaten Wexford and Offaly in the one championship and I hope they do themselves justice in the county's first appearance on Leinster hurling finals day.