CHAMPIONSHIP 2008 NEWS: Gavin Cummiskeyhears why Wexford manager John Meyler believes Tipperary will beat Waterford on Sunday while Babs Keating is not so sure

WATERFORD ARE back in an All-Ireland semi-final 12 months after being widely favoured to make the breakthrough they had been threatening for some time. It ended in crushing failure. This time they are no longer National League or Munster champions; instead they come crashing into the team that relieved them of both accolades in 2008.

Waterford's collapse at the hands of Clare on June 1st and the subsequent player coup that removed manager Justin McCarthy has been well documented. Davy Fitzgerald came in and injected enough freshness and impetus to see off Antrim, Offaly and Wexford, bringing them back to a fence where they have continually stumbled.

Can they trouble this young and ravenous Tipperary outfit? Will the newly aligned defensive system that sees Ken McGrath at full back and Tony Browne in front of him hold up under intense scrutiny? Do they have the legs anymore? For sure, John Mullane and Eoin Kelly have excelled throughout the summer but current hurler of the year Dan Shanahan has yet to find the score that ignites his season (to paraphrase the billboard that carries a giant-sized version of "Dan The Man" throughout the country).

Wexford were only a point adrift of Waterford in the All-Ireland quarter-final, leaving John Meyler, their Cork-born manager, well placed to judge the ever unpredictable state of Waterford hurling.

"I have to go with Tipp. Questions about Waterford still remain to be answered. The Wexford and Offaly matches brought them on but didn't solve the problems through the defensive spine. Stephen Banville did well on Ken McGrath in the first half the last day. The trick is to move their full-back line all over the place. I expect Lar Corbett to do just that. He'll start inside and then drift out. If he can steal a few early points somebody will be forced to follow him. Tipp by a few points."

When examining Tipperary's weaknesses, two periods in their campaign can be immediately picked out: the opening 20 minutes against Cork and the lull after half-time against Clare in the Munster final. Both periods are noticeable for the anonymity of Eoin Kelly. Meyler feels the contribution of others has, however, lightened the burden on Kelly's shoulders.

"The introduction of John O'Brien and Séamus Callinan and return to form of Lar Corbett mean Tipp are no longer overly reliant on Eoin Kelly," says Meyler. "We identified curtailing Kelly and thus negating the Tipperary attack in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final but the 'stop Kelly, stop Tipperary' standpoint no longer holds."

Two-time Tipperary manager Michael "Babs" Keating has, as ever, adopted a different perspective on Eoin Kelly. "A lot still depends on Eoin," says Keating. "The others will contribute the same again. He was nowhere to be seen when Cork were dominating but then his goal changed everything. They need a four- or five-star performance from him to progress as there are still concerns about the Tipperary half forward line and in midfield. (Waterford's Michael) "Brick" Walsh is a player nearing his best. If he comes out and replicates the form of the Fitzgibbon Cup for Waterford (IT) two years ago or at times last season then he can cause havoc."

For Keating, the Davy Fitzgerald factor and whether the heavens open also remain key issues in how this heavyweight battle will eventually sway. "Davy Fitz will know more about this Tipp team from his time with LIT when he had four or five of this team under his care. It will be interesting to see how much of a gentleman he is to former players. You can be sure he is working on curtailing their influence.

"If it's a fine day Tipp will win. Conditions will have a big bearing on the result. The forecast is for bad weather and this won't suit a lot of Tipp players. You can see the influence of (selector) Eamonn O'Shea in the way many of them play a short game, much like Eamonn used to as a player, and copying what Cork did. This can easily be disrupted in bad weather."

Does any of this matter considering who is waiting on September 7th? "I'll tell you what'll worry me more. Everyone is saying the strength of Tipperary hurling is at underage but they took a hammering last Sunday (in the minor semi-final to Kilkenny). Only (Séamus) Callinan has come through from the minor team of two years ago and that was a good team. We see it with the Galway underage teams and the Limerick under-21s' success and how they didn't transfer to senior standard.

"Talk to me in 12 months and again in two years' time and I will probably still be talking about Kilkenny as 1 to 3 to win the All-Ireland. The strength they have is unreal. Brian Cody is able to drop prominent players and is praised for it. When I did something similar I was asked to leave office. They are all singing from the same hymn sheet in Kilkenny."