Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

Tipperary and Waterford go into this Sunday’s semi-final with a mission: revenge against the Cats. Can either succeed? Emmet Moloney isn’t sure...

The greatness of this Kilkenny team is beginning to have an adverse effect on the rest of the country. Some people are losing their sense of perspective. Some bar-stool merchants have even speculated that Waterford or Tipperary would be better off losing their semi-final this weekend, rather than face an automatic hammering in the All-Ireland final.

What a load of nonsense. What drivel, as well, that the pick of them or even the whole country wouldn’t beat the Cats. Kilkenny will be beaten some day. That’s the only certainty that exists in hurling. I wish I could tell you when that will be, but it will happen.

This Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final has a lot to it, some of it not too obvious. There’s a history between the sides and both have a record to set straight with the Cats. And neither will read too much into Cork’s collapse in the face of greatness. Both believe they can beat the Cats and they have some recent circumstantial evidence to back it up.

Last September’s All-Ireland final is Tipperary’s pointer. Their year has been all about returning to the scene of the crime on the first Sunday of September to right the supposed wrong. Perhaps the thought of that rematch got in the way of preparations when they took their eye off the ball against Cork. But that was back in May and this is a different Tipp, just 70 minutes from revenge.

Two years ago, Davy Fitzgerald suffered hugely at the hands of Brian Cody. An All-Ireland final flop is not a nice item on a managerial CV. Twelve months ago, some of that hurt was salved when Waterford really put it up to the champions, but for a few key goal chances being spurned, they could have caught them.

An All-Ireland final appearance is the prize and forget the opposition, you can’t win one unless you get there. Liam Sheedy and Davy have serious ambitions. It goes without saying, Brian Cody won’t be taking the winners any less seriously, it’s just the rest of the country that will be doing the writing off.

Last Sunday, a Cork team that had ample chances to win a Munster championship could only live with Kilkenny for about 22 minutes. The ideal way to win a semi-final is supposed to be ugly but those rules don’t apply to what is probably the greatest hurling team of all time, so they won’t be worried or affected by the overwhelming favourites’ tag. Sunday’s winners will glide into a final with little or no expectation. That’s all on the other side.

This is the circus that we in the media have had to deal with in recent years. We have to talk up Kilkenny’s opposition because, if we don’t, we suspect the public will lose interest. I mean, how many times can we see Kilkenny steamroll a team into submission before half-time? It’s only natural to want sides to stand up to the Cats – a bit like Tipp and Waterford both accomplished last summer.

This Sunday has classic written all over it. Tipp have the style and class to open a game up with thrilling goals, while the Déise have the heart and habit to make it hard for them. They also have become the most tactically aware team in the game right now, delivering plans to stifle opposition and space. The sideline, as is Davy’s way, has become a real influence on Waterford games.

Liam Sheedy’s players play with slightly more freedom. Natural hurlers like Lar Crobett, Eoin Kelly, Noel McGrath and Seamus Callinan can break a game open at any second, with a hand-pass of genius in Corbett’s case.

He is the danger man because when he clicks he brings the players around him into games. Corbett is the most under-rated forward in the game right now. If Tipp had won last year’s final, Corbett would have been a compelling man of the match winner. He has now added long-range point-taking to his large repertoire of tricks. Davy will have a plan for this man and he’ll need it, because Lar with the ball in his hand spells danger.

John Mullane is the Déise version. A more rounded hurler nowadays, he appears to revel in his role as Waterford’s key man. Every serious team needs a hurler like Mullane – a player you just know is going to score four or five points, come what may. When a serious team hits that lull in a game, they need a player to keep chipping away and steal a white flag here and there. Mullane joins a long line of hurlers who could do that, players like Jamesie O’Connor, Joe Cooney, Joe Deane and Henry Shefflin who put their hands up when it isn’t going well. All John Mullane is missing this season is a killer goal. He’ll take as much watching as Lar.

The real match-up, of course, may be on the line. How will Davy counteract the scoring threat that Tipp carry in all lines of attack? Will Dan the Man arrive early? Will he play with seven, eight or nine defenders? Will Ken McGrath see action? Will Eoin Kelly (Waterford) go low with the first 21?

We know Davy will have tricks up his sleeve, but how does Sheedy respond? Will he instruct a back to go forward if his man is cleaning up out of position? Will he decide to mark the space or the man? Will he panic if the game shows no signs of opening up? The cult of the manager is long established. On Sunday, they will play a leading role for gone are the days when players are told to just go out and hurl. Hurling is no longer immune to tactics.

I fancy Tipp but a Waterford win wouldn’t surprise or bother me either. Both are worthy and more than capable of making the Cats earn that fifth crown. The head says Tipp but the neutral’s heart wants Mullane, Tony Browne, the magnificent Brick Walsh, Dan the Man and a few more to experience All-Ireland final day once more. And to do themselves justice.
Watch them all go at it this Sunday and then tell me that neither side wants a crack at the Cats.

PS, Jack O’Connor and Mickey Harte have every right to question the lopsided nature of the football qualifiers, even if they have both benefitted from the back door. (But it is a bit rich.)
The qualifiers were constituted, not to give everyone a second chance, but to ensure that teams played more than one championship match every year. The qualifiers were never about a second chance, they were about a second match.

To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...