Rejuvenated Clare can add to Waterford's woe

AFTER their failure in the League final last weekend, Waterford can either be inspired to energise their challenge tomorrow or, alternatively, be subdued by it.

Either way, they are guaranteed a ferocious Guinness Munster SHC opener in Thurles against Clare, who will benefit from having a single focus for the past few weeks.

Either way, an intriguing game is guaranteed. The rivalry is intense if not bitter, particular significance is attached to Clare being managed by Anthony Daly regarded almost as a Ger Loughnane clone, but very much his own man and, of course, major questions have been asked about Waterford's character.

One of the most relevant relates to their lack of leadership against Galway and the weakness of their attack, where only Dan Shanahan enhanced his reputation. Captain Ken McGrath has again been named in defence, but Waterford supporters would probably feel a little bit reassured to see him line up at centre-forward. It wouldn't be a bold move for the management to make the change, but it would be not to do so.

Former captain Stephen Frampton feels Waterford supporters will not desert their team, in spite of the disappointing way they lost to Galway. "The hard core of hurling followers will still be there. They've been doing that for years and they're not going to stop because of one defeat," he says.

"The majority were very optimistic going up to Limerick. We really went up with high hopes. It was a major blow to see them beaten."

He doubts very much that it was the result of not taking the game seriously enough, commenting: "it's not as if we could afford to take a National League final lightly. It was just a really bad day. Nothing went right and they played poorly."

Likewise, he accepts Ken McGrath was 'missed sadly' up front, because of the leadership he usually provides. There was a need for somebody to 'grab the game by the scruff of the neck' when the chips were down.

"I'm a great supporter of Dan Shanahan and have always made it known publicly. He gets too much of a hard time from the supporters, but he proved himself on Sunday. When everything else was falling around him, he stood up and was counted. If things don't go well for him this time they'll be moaning about him again, unfortunately."

Frampton knows that under Anthony Daly's leadership, Clare are guaranteed to be fired up. From what he has seen, they have been hurling with the same type of 'fire and passion' that they did under Loughnane. Additionally, the mixture of new and old seems to be working for them.

"They're going to be very formidable this year on the national stage, not to mind Munster," he says. "We probably don't have as much hope as this time last week. The hearts are a bit heavier, because we went into the League final with such great expectations."

In sharp contrast, former Clare star Fergie Tuohy (like Frampton maintaining his interest through the medium of local radio) is upbeat about their prospects. "Possibly their game against Tipperary was the most impressive and it got them to the League final. You feel they must have been doing something right to qualify," he comments.

Delighted with the appointment of Daly, his lifelong friend and clubmate, he thought initially it might be a disadvantage being so close to many of the players. However, the appointment of Fr. Harry Bohan "he brings a maturity to the management team" and Alan Cunningham "he has had a big influence with the U21's" allayed those fears.

Tuohy has been impressed with the way the team has developed, suggesting that the League games against Kilkenny (even though they lost to them) and Tipperary were particularly important. "They were benchmarkers for the people of Clare as well as the team itself," I believe that Clare will be too strong and that's not a home town decision. It's based on what I have seen of the two teams."

On purely logical grounds, I agree it is next to impossible to argue the case for a Waterford win. They may have the potential as well as the experience to resurrect their challenge, but it's hard to envisage them succeeding unless Clare fail to play up to expectations.

I do, however, feel that Waterford will raise their standard substantially in which case we could be in for a real dogfight.