Munster SFC

Before the Cork footballers turned their winter of discontent into a national crisis, there were other more delicate rumblings in the south, which, if they weren't ignored, were promptly forgotten. Now we get a reminder of what the fuss was all about.

Long ago the Munster football championship evolved into a competition of blatant discrimination. Of course you can't help it if you're born lucky - or in this instance born in Kerry or Cork - but this annual campaign for southern supremacy has now been contested 119 times since 1888, and if we didn't know any better, we could easily accuse the whole thing of being rigged.

The title has been awarded 71 times to Kerry, and 35 times to Cork. The remaining four counties have been left with the scraps: nine wins for Tipperary; two for Clare; and one each for Limerick (in 1896) and Waterford (in 1898).

Of the four provincial football championships, none is as turgid with repetition as Munster.

Incredibly, Clare's surprise success in 1992 remains the only non-Kerry/Cork title since 1935, when Tipperary won the last of their titles. So, what have the lords of Munster decided to do this year to help address this discrimination?

They've reverted to the seeded format, where Kerry and Cork are once again practically assured a place in the final.

No one seems to be sure what was the reason behind it - but the guarantee of a competitive Munster final every year no doubt played some role. Yet such a baffling decision still caught everyone by surprise, and most of all those it will impact on: Limerick, Waterford, Clare and Tipperary. Their main hope every year was that either Kerry or Cork would outdo the other if drawn in a semi-final, thereby helping the underdog to spring a surprise in the final.

Now, these four may well have to beat both Kerry and Cork if they are to land that chronically elusive Munster title. This is what Limerick manager Mickey Ned O'Sullivan was upset about last October when the seeding decision was first announced, with support promptly voiced by Waterford, Clare and Tipperary. O'Sullivan was so outraged he withdrew his Limerick players from the interprovincial competition as a form of protest, and the Waterford manager, John Kiely, was quick to share the outrage, if not the protest.

But what must be must be, and so the Munster football championship proceeds with as great an air of inevitability as ever. We know Cork will meet Kerry in the final on July 6th - bar an absolute miracle - so if we want to get excited about Munster before that, we'll have to check in on the two quarter-finals, set for May 25th.

Tipperary will play Limerick in Fermoy, and at first glance Limerick would be fancied to progress to meet Cork. O'Sullivan remains a highly dedicated manager and, while Division Three league form was a little disappointing, this is a game Limerick know they have to win in order to mark any sort of progress.

Tipperary surprised even themselves in getting promoted from Division Four, which at least gives them the qualifiers to fall back on, yet manager John Evans won't fear playing Limerick either. In reality it could go either way.

Waterford football continues to progress, slowly more than surely, and Kiely's enthusiasm and charisma have served them well over the past four years. They mixed it with the best in Division Three of the league, denying Antrim promotion with their last-round victory, and they should handle Clare in the other quarter-final, even though that tie is set for Ennis.

Clare manager Frank Doherty needed to settle things down again in the aftermath of the Páidí Ó Sé hype, but there wasn't much to sing about in their league campaign.

Should Waterford therefore progress as expected then it's straight into the lions' den. Kerry have home advantage for the semi-final in Killarney on June 15th, and there's only one possible outcome here. The only hope for Waterford is they improve on last year's score when the teams met. On that occasion Kerry won 2-15 to 0-4.

Cork, likewise, have little to fear about their semi-final, also on June 15th, against either Limerick or Tipperary. Limerick would have home advantage, and two years ago Cork struggled to put Limerick away in one of the worst championship matches in living memory.

All the dreary and unavoidable inevitability of Munster will, however, be forgotten once Kerry and Cork line up for the final on July 6th. This time, the whole country will be watching. There's no doubt the respect and desire these counties once held for the Munster title has been significantly watered down in the era of the qualifier route. Cork's defeat in last year's final was greeted in the county with brazen tolerance rather than bitter disappointment, and, to a lesser extent, so was Kerry's defeat in the final of 2006.

This means it's impossible to know just how seriously these two counties will take the Munster championship final anymore.

Seriously, yes - but as seriously as they take the matches that follow? Unlikely. Neither Kerry nor Cork will have their summer defined by what happens on July 6th, and no one knows that better than themselves.

Kerry's defeat to Derry in the league final was significant on several counts. It most likely removed any complacency that may have crept in during their strong league campaign. Just as importantly, it will have reminded them several counties are still capable of beating them on any given day. Just like Monaghan so nearly did in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final.

Manager Pat O'Shea still refuses to put that one-point victory down to the six-week layoff after their Munster final win.

"I think Kerry could have been beaten by a good team that day," he says. "Not by the six-week break. And Monaghan were a good team. People were reading into the six-week layoff and saying Kerry were stale. Of course if we do lose a game like that, we'll be the first to look for every excuse."

O'Shea describes the Munster championship as a "stand-alone" competition, and Kerry will deal with it that way. In other words, losing the Munster title would have little effect on their All-Ireland ambitions.

Nothing matters more to Kerry this year than winning that third successive All-Ireland, and based on the widely impressive panel of players Kerry used during the league, there's no disputing they can do it.

Whether or not they want to claim another Munster title along the way remains to be seen. One thing is certain, however: Cork won't want to lose to Kerry again, not just because of last year's Munster final defeat, but because of what happened last September. Cork's mood for revenge will only have deepened after the lengthy strike that came so close to ending their whole season before it began.

It is a pity this once-charming championship has been further reduced by the reintroduction of the seeded format. But while it's no consolation to Limerick, Tipperary, Clare and Waterford, at least this guarantees one game in the province only a fool would miss: Kerry and Cork in a Munster football final.

Here we go again.

County guide

KERRY

Defeat to Derry in the Division One final should banish any complacency; they'll need to be on their guard for the inevitable showdown against Cork.

IF KERRY WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

She Belongs to Me (from the album Bringing It All Back Home) Includes the lines: " She's got everything she needs, she's an artist, she don't look back . . . Bow down to her on Sunday, Salute her when her birthday comes."

Last 3 Championship seasons: 2005: Beat Tipperary; Beat Limerick; Beat Cork; Beat Mayo; Beat Cork; Lost to Tyrone 2006: Beat Waterford; Beat Tipperary; Drew with Cork; Lost to Cork; Beat Longford; beat Armagh; Beat Cork; Beat Mayo 2007: Beat Waterford; Beat Cork; Beat Monaghan; Beat Dublin; Beat Cork

WATERFORD

It was hard not to sympathise after the 17-point defeat to Kerry in their opening match last year, but they didn't dwell on it, and a promising league campaign saw them fall just short of promotion. They'll relish their opening match against Clare, but guess who's waiting after that?

IF WATERFORD WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

Wiggle Wiggle ( Under the Red Sky) Includes the lines: "Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle in your boots and shoes. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, you got nothing to lose. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a swarm of bees. Wiggle on your hands and knees."

Last 3 Championship seasons: 2005: Lost to Clare; Lost to Louth 2006: Lost to Kerry; Lost to Longford 2007: Beat Clare; Lost to Kerry

CLARE

The false hope that marked Páidí Ó Sé's term as manager last year is forgotten, although league form was slow in building fresh momentum. The reseeding of the Munster championship has given them something to play for, and the prospect of possibly one more match beyond their opener.

IF CLARE WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

Only a Pawn in Their Game (The Times They Are A-Changin') Includes the lines: "He never thinks straight, 'Bout the shape that he's in, But it ain't him to blame, He's only a pawn in their game."

Last 3 Championship seasons:2005: Beat Waterford; Lost to Cork; Beat Westmeath; Lost to Sligo 2006: Lost to Limerick; Beat Antrim; Lost to Fermanagh 2007: Lost to Waterford

CORK

No matter what Cork do this summer, the events of their winter of discontent will be seen as a defining factor. The mood has been positive since Conor Counihan came in, and, after last September, their will relish a tilt against Kerry.

IF CORK WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

I Want You (Blonde on Blonde) Includes the lines: "The cracked bells and washed-out horns, Blow into my face with scorn, But it's not that way, I wasn't born to lose you. I want you."

Last 3 Championship seasons: 2005: Beat Clare, Lost to Kerry, beat Sligo, Beat Galway, Lost to Kerry 2006: Beat Limerick, Drew with Kerry, Beat Kerry, Beat Donegal, Lost to Kerry 2007: Beat Limerick; Beat Tipperary; Lost to Kerry; Beat Louth; Beat Sligo; Beat Meath; Lost to Kerry

TIPPERARY

It's 1935 since Tipperary last won the Munster football championship, and there'll be plenty more summers before they win it again. Promotion from Division Four at least has them going in the right direction, and into the qualifiers.

IF TIPPERARY WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

Summer Days (Love and Theft) Includes the lines: "Where do you come from? Where do you go? Sorry that's nothin' you would need to know, Well my back has been stuck to the wall for so long, it seems like it's stuck, Why don't you break my heart one more time just for good luck."

Last 3 Championship seasons:2005: Lost to Kerry; Lost to Westmeath 2006: Lost to Kerry; Lost to Longford 2007: Lost to Cork

LIMERICK

In 2003 and 2004 they had Kerry on the run in the final and were within touching distance of a second provincial title and first since 1896. They should beat Tipperary, but Cork have moved a few steps ahead of them again, and the reseeding hasn't done any favours.

IF LIMERICK WERE A BOB DYLAN SONG...

Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) Includes the lines: "Mama, put my guns in the ground, I can't shoot them anymore, That long black cloud is comin' down, I feel like I'm knockin' on heaven's door."

Last 3 Championship seasons: 2005:Lost to Kerry; Beat Carlow; Lost to Derry 2006: Beat Clare; Lost to Cork; Lost to Westmeath 2007: Lost to Cork; Lost to Louth