Danger: Ken at work

Michael Moynihan

The same guy who reeled off seven points from play against Tipperary in that year's Munster final.

Now move him. Take him out of his usual sniper's nest at number 11 but don't put him nearer the goal. Stick him in the defence.

A mistake? When Cork launched their last airborne attack in this year's Munster final it was that same poacher turned gamekeeper who had the radar working. When Ken McGrath of Mount Sion pocketed the dropping ball and won the free which saw Waterford home, Déise legend John Keane himself would have approved.

"Everyone was saying at the start of the year I'd be moved to centre-back and I was at wing back at the start of the league," says McGrath. "It went well enough and I went to centre-back for the Clare game, and it's taken off from there. I probably needed a change for this year to re-ignite things, and I'm delighted to be there."

Facing the ball meant a change in focus for the Waterford captain. "It's different - you're watching a forward to make sure he doesn't get past and I'm more tired mentally from that after a game. I like playing centre-back, I always did, but in every game you're playing on a good centre-forward, someone who can score a few points, so you have to be careful. Watching a man wasn't something I was used to in the forwards. You're only one game away from being destroyed as a back."

McGrath and Waterford have made this pilgrimage before. In 2002 they escaped from Munster but couldn't get over Clare in the semi-final. Still, at that point a first Munster championship in nearly four decades might have been reward enough. Not now.

"The main thing this year is getting to a final," says McGrath. "We seem to be a lot more focused on that. Myself and a lot of other lads didn't go to any summer camps this year to concentrate on playing ourselves. We're not getting carried away.

"Mind you, we didn't go over the top in 2002 either. The place went crazy and we enjoyed the couple of days afterwards, obviously, after winning our first Munster Final in nearly 40 years, but we can also remember how bad it felt to lose that semi-final."

Waterford hit the ground running that day with early scores, but Clare gradually got on top. "We started well, and maybe you could say we left it behind us. I didn't go well myself and we had a few wides. You never give up, and if we'd scored a goal but they dominated the second half. We couldn't have any complaints after the game."

Waterford are understandably keen to avoid a repeat of 2002, a desire mirrored in their preparations.

The county panel headed up to Croke Park to watch the quarter-finals.

"We only had 40 minutes or so on the field and lads wanted to do loads, but we really went up to get used to the stadium with the crowd in it and so on. Two years ago it passed us by."

It wasn't their first journey this summer. Given Justin McCarthy's links to Antrim hurling it was no surprise when Waterford fetched up in the northeast, playing their hosts in the game that gave Dinny Cahill cause for optimism.

"Antrim was great, it was a team weekend but we had a good game against them. They played really well and we honestly thought they'd give Cork a good go, but we came into the ground five minutes in and they were already seven points down. They didn't look like the same team at all."

McGrath doesn't subscribe to suggestions Kilkenny are weakening. "People say Kilkenny weren't great the first day against Clare, for example, but they still didn't lose. They hung in there even though they probably felt they didn't play up to scratch.

"We had no real preference. You have to play Kilkenny at some stage in the championship. We're training with a good intensity and we're not worried about any game."

Intensity could be an issue for Waterford's opponents, however. This is Kilkenny's third weekend of championship fare in a row. Surely that takes its toll? "It could work both ways. People are saying the opposition could be tired or burnt out, but they could also be more up to the pace. It's hard to say until the day of the game."

It's definitely a day John Mullane won't be togging out, however, and McGrath acknowledges his absence is a blow. "John is a huge loss. We talked about it a bit after the game and just accepted he was gone. If he had come back in it would have been a massive bonus but we just have to get on with it.

"John's a great character, he plays with his heart on his sleeve. Some people go on about that but that's the way he is, he's like that in training as well. He's a genuine fella, one of the best-liked on the panel, and the team will be trying to get to the final for him. He deserves it."

Though Mullane is a key man for Waterford, replacing him for the semi-final isn't the trial it might once have been. When the final whistle blew against Tipperary Tony Browne, Paul Flynn and McGrath himself weren't on the field; Waterford have added some depth to their panel this year.

"When Brian Wall came into the team against Tipperary in a packed stadium down in Cork that showed what kind of player he's going to be, and we have other lads on the sideline who can't wait for their chance. Paul O'Brien proved that in the Tipp game."

It's been a good summer in the Crystal City. Beating Clare, Tipperary and Cork has been great for the Waterford soul, and there's so much white and blue on show that urban legends about Greek tourists' surprise at the level of support for the Euro 2004 champions seem plausible.

The first man out of the tunnel tomorrow acknowledges the feelgood factor: "Everyone's on a high, and it's great. Waterford is a good hurling town, there are seven or eight city lads on the team. You see young lads out playing hurling and that's what we all want - to promote the game. It's brilliant to walk around town and see the jerseys and the flags. We were watching great games for years and hoping we'd be in them - praying to play in them - and now that we're involved, it's great."