Déise dilemma: rested or rusty?

THE debate rages on in Waterford and Kilkenny. The question is simple: who has the advantage for tomorrow’s Guinness All-Ireland SHC semi-final?

The answer though is proving as difficult to discover as Roman Abramovich’s whereabouts.

Waterford as Munster champions have not seen competitive action in six weeks while Kilkenny have had three outings in the past three weeks. Who will be effected more - no one is saying.

Two years ago Waterford found themselves in a similar position. Clare reaped the benefits of their lack of match practice and progressed to an All-Ireland Final. In the aftermath McCarthy confided that he had been worried by the implications of their sideline spell. Though he confirms those issues have been rectified, the Waterford boss admits that a busy hurling schedule is his preferred method of preparations.

“There’s nothing like games. They sharpen you up and bring the best out of you. You’re not going in cold to a match situation.

“That’s the advantage Kilkenny have over us. The advantage we have over them is that we will be fresher.”

This time the management have approached their trip to Dublin differently. For one thing the celebrations which followed their win over Cork were minimal in comparison to their 2002 victory - which gave the Decies their first provincial title in 39 years.

Secondly, the players went back to their clubs for a week and a half. Add in a weekend away in Antrim and a visit to Croke Park for the first Clare/Tipperary game and the net result according to the manager has been to “break the monotony” of their spell of inactivity. “The time didn’t drag on too much, we used it more to our advantage,” he said. “But, we do lack a very competitive game.”

Tomorrow’s opponents, the All-Ireland champions, have played three championship matches within the same period. The first of those was against Galway in Semple Stadium and the hurling world sat up and took notice that Sunday night. Justin amongst them.

“It was a performance of total precision, a top-of-the-range type of game. They played an exceptional game. You could see it from the start in the way they approached the game and took Galway asunder. I was saying at half-time that they couldn’t keep up that momentum, but in the second half they were even greater still.

“It was a complete performance. They sustained the intensity, through their hunger, their shooting, their passing, their scoring and their team work. It was awesome.”

Nevertheless, he knew it would be difficult to repeat that type of performance, especially against Clare in Croke Park. His sentiments were proved right.

But he could see only one outcome in the replay six days later at Semple Stadium.

“I thought I saw something in Kilkenny last week, the way they played. I felt they were back again with that power hurling, the intensity in their play and the craft. I could never see Clare winning, to be honest.”

So the advantage is with Kilkenny with regards to match practice but the Waterford boss is not too concerned for a number of reasons.

McCarthy dismisses recollection of past Croke Park woes as little more than history.

“People might look back to 1998 and 2002 [Waterford’s recent semi-final appearances], but they are in the past to be honest, of no real relevance.

“Sunday is a day in itself. The maturity that’s in our team and the way we are playing - that’s the way I see it!

“The team has shown a lot of character this year. That’s what we try to instill into them, that if you prepare properly and you have the right application, the right temperament, and you are prepared to go flat out for success, anything is possible.

“When you approach it properly, these things can be achieved. It mightn’t have been the norm in Waterford over the years to come back like that, but this team is prepared differently and we approach it differently. Players have put in a huge amount of time and effort themselves individually.”

And finally, there is good news for hurling purists.

McCarthy vows that his approach will be no different to usual.

“You can go overboard and tactics are coming into hurling which I hope don’t continue too much. They’re getting more like football every day.

“I would rather see the game played as 15 against 15 if possible. I think that’s important.

“These tactics can work for a while, but not long-term - not in hurling anyhow because the ball can travel faster than in football.

“It’s not worked up the field as much, it’s delivered faster. When it comes down to it, too many tactics can confuse teams. You are better off playing a straight forward game. My approach won’t change, there are areas in the field where every player has to be accountable for. You can’t be all over the place, there’s only so much ground you can cover.

“We will be playing a little more conventional game.”