Angst and arrogance now buried deep in Tipperary and Waterford's psyches

What is the Waterford psyche? Talk to Derek McGrath and he would say it tends towards the pessimistic. Tipperary’s? Listen to most outside the county and they would argue it borders on, if not embraces, the arrogant.

Brian Flannery and Andy Moloney would dispute such claims. They should know given they wore the jerseys of both counties. They agree those generalisations may have been true at one time but not now.

“When I transferred to Waterford, there was definitely a different expectation level even among players,” says Flannery. “I vividly remember back in ’98 Gerald McCarthy asking the players in a huddle how many of them believed we were going to win a Munster championship that year and only one hand was raised.