Seán Moran asks if the troubled Munster champions can raise their game again

The Allianz National Hurling League starts a new season this weekend. Holders and All-Ireland champions Kilkenny travel tomorrow to play Waterford, Munster champions again after 39 years. If the last year's league proved prophetic in Kilkenny's case it was more conventionally deceptive about Waterford's prospects.

A turbulent spring preceded a memorable summer. Twelve months ago new manager Justin McCarthy's style was taking a bit of getting used to and in February county and Munster champions Ballygunner went down to a disappointing defeat against Clarinbridge in the All-Ireland club semi-final.

A year on and despite the achievement of last year, Waterford find themselves in the same position. Since the great day in Cork last June the trajectory has been downwards. Controversy and defeat marked the All-Ireland semi-final against Clare in August.

There have been player controversies with John Mullane currently before the GAC on disciplinary charges and All Star Eoin Kelly at odds with Mount Sion during the club's preparation for the All-Ireland semi-final.

Earlier this month the panel declined to be presented with their Munster medals after the event was organised at short notice and with little regard for the availability of some players. An alternative date has yet to be fixed. This fiasco has symbolised strained relations between players and county board.

Then last Sunday Mount Sion went down to the county's third All-Ireland semi-final defeat in a year against Ulster champions Dunloy, available in the bookies at 10 to 1 the week before the match. Back to square one - almost.

In the euphoria of last summer's Munster title win and the effusive vindications of manager Justin McCarthy's emphasis on technique and hurling skills it was forgotten that not all the players had been so impressed in the spring.

Accustomed to previous manager Gerald McCarthy's more physical regime, some felt that they weren't doing enough hard work.

"Players sat down and thought 'we're not fit enough'," according to selector Colm Bonnar who also served with Gerald McCarthy. "They missed the point that if you did the running and speed drills, and did them properly and at an intense level, you were working out for between one and a half and two hours. You're expected to go faster and harder in those drills.

"Gerald did a lot of work with everybody in from November and December. It provided a good base but Justin didn't start until January 10th. It was different and fellas weren't used to it."

The immediate challenge is Kilkenny but all hurling managements in the top divisions have an important interim goal, qualifying for the second-phase play-offs.

Bonnar dismisses talk of player discontent, describing the fuss over the medals presentation as "probably just an oversight. In the end it might be for the best as it could be turned into a fundraiser".

During the week Azurri, the company that supplies Waterford's playing kit, presented players with €13,000 of leisure wear. Justin McCarthy told the assembled gathering that in 11 years of playing for Cork he hadn't received even one training top.

It served as a reminder of how the world had changed for inter-county hurlers. For all his back-to-the-future emphasis on hurling skills and status as a county board rebel in Cork, even McCarthy must at times feel the generation gap.

More comfortable with the training regime players still have to overcome the ultimately disappointing end to the championship. Although some in the county feel that the six-week break between the Munster final and All-Ireland semi-final didn't help, Bonnar sees other reasons for the defeat by Clare.

"I was with Tipp when we won a first Munster title in 16 years. You really feel you've achieved something. It quenches the thirst a bit. Not consciously but it has an effect. Players have given so much and there's the whole emotion of victory and getting involved with community celebrations. That takes the edge off you.

"Then they (Waterford) ended up playing one of the most seasoned teams around, a team that could stop them playing hurling the way Justin wanted them to play.

"We started it on fire and could have scored a goal and a couple of points more. After 34 minutes we were still five up but went in a point behind and that six-point turnaround had an impact. Clare had turned the corner and we couldn't hurl with the same crispness we'd started the game. The manner of the defeat was disappointing because the chances were there."

Bonnar doesn't believe the general perception that Clare again exposed a certain mental fragility on the part of Waterford or that Mount Sion's failure at the same stage reinforces that view and makes the year ahead a daunting one for the team management.

"If it continues to happen then it could become a burden. But this isn't the same team that lost the '98 semi-final (to Kilkenny). There's seven or eight changed. Look at Armagh. They lost three big matches at Croke Park before coming through last year. Our players are young enough to learn from it.

"As a group we haven't been together, haven't as a unit got together. Mount Sion are just coming back and when everyone's there the players will get focused. If you look at it another way: Ballygunner won Munster last year and Mount Sion won it this year. The county won Munster last year. That means we're unbeaten in the province for two years."

How the players view the county's undulating fortunes remains to be seen. It will be a task to return and knuckle down to training again, wondering whether the bottle's half full or half empty. Will the fireworks of Páirc Uí Chaoimh last June be remembered as a memorable overture or the whole show? The story continues.