Waterford will look to steer Cork into heavy traffic

Cork need to bring this game down to individual one-on-one battles up front and attempt to undermine the Déise defensive system through long-range scores and by direct running at the heart of the defence, writes Donal O’Grady.

If Waterford manager Derek McGrath, in a quiet moment, was to sit down and mentally survey the current hurling landscape he might feel this year presents a great opportunity for ultimate success. However, to sweep or not to sweep, that is the still the question.

Of course, Waterford’s lineout and tactics may be determined by where they play Austin Gleeson. If they line out without a sweeper, they have the option of playing Gleeson at centre-back or centre-forward. Midfielder Jamie Barron, in a well-practised role, would then act as cover for the defence. However, they have played the sweeper system to good effect in many big games over the last two years and McGrath may be reluctant to alter this, having had no competitive game for 10 weeks.