Waterford Seek First Silverware of 2017.

It is the weekend we here in Waterford have looked forward to since the Munster Championship Draws were made back in the autumn of last year.

This Sunday Waterford senior hurling team will enter the Munster Championship and a match against the counties fiercest rivals – Cork, fresh from their recent win over All-Ireland Champions Tipperary at Semple Stadium in Thurles.

While that game on Sunday in Thurles has a 4pm start, those that make their way through Liberty Square and out the Nenagh Road early in the afternoon and go inside the famous stadium, often regarded as the Home of Hurling, could well be entertained by a novel curtain raiser to the big game.

This year the Munster Council has dispensed with the Intermediate Hurling Championship which has always acted as a curtain raiser to Senior Hurling Championship games in the province up to and including the provincial semi finals.

In its place the Munster Council has introduced and under 25 championship which was only entered by three of the five counties competing in the senior championship, as both Tipperary and Cork have opted out of fielding teams in the competition.

It is hard to see such a competition take off in the long term, as many inter county panels in recent years are made up of players who are in their late teens and early twenties, and with so many players therefore not available to those over the new under 25 teams, you would have to ask for how long will supporters pay out big money to see a curtain raiser where many of the players who are eligible to play in the competition not available for selection because they are involved in the main game of the day.

Limerick and Clare have already met in the competition, with Limerick winning so with three teams involved they will play Waterford in this year’s Munster Final on Sunday.

Over the past few years in the under 21 championship, Waterford have not enjoyed the best of times, with the exception of last year when Waterford won the competition under Sean Power and went on to win the All-Ireland Final later in the year.

From the under 21 panels in the last four years, players like Tadhg De Búrca, Shane McNulty, Jake Dillon, Jamie Barron, Colin Dunford, Austin Gleeson, Mikey Kearney, Conor Gleeson, the Bennett Brothers, Peter Hogan, DJ Foran, Stephen Roche, Mark O’Brien, Conor Prunty, Darragh Lyons, Ian Kenny, Seamus Keating, Darragh Lyons and Patrick Curran are all involved in Derek McGrath’s plan’s for the second game on Sunday, so Sean Power who is over this team will be without some of the better players who are eligible to play for this game, but some of these may be released to play from the senior set up.

However, while if all of these players were available you would be strongly fancying Waterford to win, there is still a considerable amount of players who have played under 21 in recent years and who are under 21 this year that could well make up a decent Waterford panel.

Players like Jordan Henley, William Hahessey, Michael Harney, Colm Roche, Adam Farrell, Jack Fagan, Ross Browne, Billy O’Keeffe, Dermot Ryan, Barry Whelan, Niall Fives, Billy Nolan, Ryan Donnelly, Cathal Curran, Barry O’Sullivan, Seanie Barry, Shane Roche, Ray Barry, Gavin O’Brien, Kieran Power, Darren Duggan, Paudie Prendergast, Stephen Roche and Eamon Murphy have all represented the county at under 21 level and if called up and if they make themselves available, Waterford will be able to field a strong team without effecting Derek McGrath’s panel.

Add in players who are under 21 this year like David Prendergast, Mikey Daykin, Calum Lyons, Jack Prendergast, Edmond O’Halloran and Jack Prendergast and you can see the strength Waterford have in dept if ever needed for the senior set up.

Limerick in the last few years have fared better than Waterford at underage level and with their senior side out of the Munster Championship, a number of their more established players could well be added to what they had last time out against Clare, giving them a run out ahead of their upcoming All-Ireland qualifier.

Within the G.A.A. it is often the norm that many people stay away from the first game, often gathering in the nearby pubs and in the square in Thurles before making their way to the ground in time for the main game.

As already mentioned, this competition might be a short lived one, and maybe in the near future the Munster Council will play minor games as the curtain raiser to the senior games as what happens with the Munster Final and All-Ireland Semi Final and Final, but we must not lose sight that this is a Munster Final and it would be nice to think that most of those that do make their way to Thurles will be inside the ground for as much of the curtain raiser to the senior game, if not all of it as is possible.