21-05-2025
Cork-Waterford showdown will come down to sheer desire
As I sat in the Ardán Ó Riain stand in Semple Stadium last Sunday after the final whistle, Tipperary fans all around me were soaking in a first championship hurling win in Thurles in six years.
Bruce Springsteen's 'Glory Days' was blaring out over the speakers, the sun was shining and all was well in the world of Tipperary hurling.
Our Under-20s had been crowned Munster champions a few days previously and are now looking forward to an All-Ireland final in two weeks. Tipperary hurling folk could not but be in great spirits as many gathered in the Dome to watch Limerick remind us all they are the best, no questions.
The journey home was short as we stopped off to collect our kids from the out laws and the first question from them was "what did you bring us?". Nothing like the honesty of children to bring you back to reality, but even their roars of disapproval to no treats could not burst the bubble I was in after that win.
The Sunday night fear was replaced with 'The Sunday Game' and the pausing of the Munster round-robin table to see the mission had very much been accomplished. We were out of Munster - progress has been made.
It's a great feeling watching on this weekend not relying on anyone else to do you any favours to try and get through. I hope all the Tipp lads had a well deserved night out together last Sunday. Tipp are in a place now where no team will want to meet them but every team will still feel they can beat them. That's ideal for the Premier County.
I know some will question this but for me I feel Tipp are as well off watching Limerick and Cork do battle in the Munster final this year. Next year we will be in a better place to go after that title but right now, with the form Limerick are in and the strength in depth they have, I feel the Munster seven-in-a-row is almost a done deal.
So for me if Tipp can get their business done in a preliminary quarter-final without too much stress and then find themselves in an All-Ireland quarter-final against a wounded Dublin or Galway, they will really fancy that.
The form will be mighty going into it and Tipp could easily find themselves back playing championship hurling in Croke Park for the first time in six years. That would be mighty progress for all involved.
I'm pointing the car towards SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday for radio duty for the only game in Munster that really matters this weekend: Cork v Waterford.
For me, the Rebels really need this win. This group has the potential to be the best around on any given day and I feel the capitulation last Sunday against Limerick will be the kick up the backside they never knew they needed.
If they lose on Sunday, their year is over, their chance of bringing Liam MacCarthy back to Leeside gone for another year and there will be changes in the group.
The simple question that needs to be posed this week in Cork training is, do ye want this to end now? Do ye want this to be your last week training as a group ever?
It might sound a bit extreme but time waits for no one, lives move on, people's circumstances in sport and life change, people's outlook on things will change, so have no doubt that the dynamic of the group will change in some shape or form.
This was supposed to be their year, the year they would dominate the hurling landscape and the league gave us no other reason to doubt this. But in championship hurling the copybook has a few marcanna dubh on it.
What Cork don't have is time to dwell on any of this. They must have the Limerick loss parked by now and take whatever positives they can from it. Sometimes nothing needs to be said after such a performance or lack thereof.
Yes Limerick were class but Cork didn't lay a glove on them.
It's hard for a player to even get booked when they're just chasing shadows and fail to get any contact on an opposition player. That will have to be different this Sunday against a Waterford team that love playing in Cork and for 45 minutes in the league final looked so sharp in everything they did down there.
Waterford are not under anywhere near the sort of pressure that Cork are and this should allow them to play with a freedom that often leads to a brilliant Déise performance.
Everyone expects Cork to win and that will suit Waterford down to the ground. They can throw off the shackles and just go out and express themselves.
Their leaders will need big games but they have that in the locker, their young guns will need to contribute with a savage intensity and work rate which they have shown they are capable of against Clare and in patches against Limerick and Tipp.
It might not be the rivalry of the early noughties but none the less there is as much on the line in this game as there would be in a Munster final.
As was said to me before, you can't win the game a few days before it but you can lose it. Lose it with your thoughts, with the 'what-ifs', with the energy sappers in your everyday life.
These players need to surround themselves with positivity and good energy for the rest of this week. Match day will look after itself. Whichever team can bring the most energy on Sunday will win the game.
They are both very good hurling teams but it's the desire now that will get them over the line. Both sides will want it as much as any win in their lives. Who will want it more? Which group feels they need it as much as water to survive?
For me I feel the Rebels are that group right now.
