Cork and Waterford still have room for improvement

Both favourites need good displays to survive potentially tricky assignments, writes Nicky English, hurling analyst.

WE WILL stick with conventional wisdom by predicting Cork and Waterford to see off Clare and Wexford but both teams need to show significant improvements to be considered real All-Ireland contenders again. That's what makes tomorrow's trip to Thurles so fascinating; can these perennial challengers for the Liam McCarthy Cup in recent times get up to the standards set by Tipperary and Kilkenny in 2008?

Earlier in the season I fancied Cork to win the All-Ireland on the back of past form and perhaps the thickening bond created by the player strike - akin to what happened in 1999.

I had since written them off, mainly after the performance against Galway in the league and against Tipperary in the championship, but last week some of the old reliables rolled back the years. Joe Deane, Ben O'Connor and Ronan Curran - complemented by younger guys like Shane O'Neill and Pat Cronin - all made significant contributions but not enough for me to say Cork are back on track.

Defeating Galway in the manner they did ensured a great spectacle and a thrilling atmosphere but it must be highlighted five of the Galway forwards grossly underperformed.

Cork only started to make a telling impact when the game opened up, the impressive Cathal Naughton was reintroduced in midfield and they began to make good use of the extra space. Cork were at their most dangerous against Tipperary when using the two-man full-forward line but the Munster champions got to grips with it by adjusting to a man-on-man approach that stymied the space Cork so desperately need nowadays.

It will also prove very difficult to rediscover the mental fortitude and motivational power of having to react to the loss of Donal Óg Cusack. There is no better lift for a team than when they feel they have been wronged. Having their main leader taken out of the mix so early merely fuelled the inner Rebel fire.

Gerald McCarthy will be hard pressed to recreate such an environment - add in the short time span to recover from such an intense display and they may struggle to reach similar heights.

Granted, the same thought process remains - many of the ageing players' intercounty careers are on the line but contrast that with Clare coming off the low of their underperforming Munster final display and motivation seems equally divided.

Mental freshness is a huge factor. Just look at how Waterford suffered in the All-Ireland semi-final against Limerick last year.

Clare should be disappointed with their inability to rediscover in the final against Tipperary the enthusiasm shown when they beat Waterford and Limerick. They almost seemed content with the day out and trappings of being back in a Munster final - as if the two scalps en route to that point had satisfied their appetite.

The work ethic noticeably flagged. They simply didn't close down the spaces. The whole attack needs to dramatically improve also. Colin Lynch and Brian O'Connell dragged them back into it against Tipperary and while Niall Gilligan was the best performer in the forwards he still managed to post some inexcusable wides.

I still think Cork will win but don't expect a repeat of last week's performance. They need to start scoring more goals to pull clear of a Clare team who may be content with their achievements to date. If Clare are in the mood, however, and close down their men we should be served up a cracking contest.

Waterford against Wexford is also a tough call. The mental block that curses all Leinster teams against Kilkenny is now gone and Wexford proved last year (in between the two Kilkenny beatings) that they had no problem maintaining their intensity when beating Tipperary.

They also performed better against Kilkenny this year than in previous outings, only for the heads to collectively drop once some daylight was established early in the second half. The Jacob brothers, Diarmuid Lyng and Eoin Quigley in midfield have been performing well and use ball intelligently.

They won't fade as quickly against Munster opposition. The avoidance of Kilkenny in an All-Ireland semi-final is a major positive.

I thought Waterford would come back stronger as All-Ireland contenders last weekend against Offaly than proved to be the case. Eoin Kelly may have delivered an All Star display against Offaly and John Mullane continued his excellent form but the likes of Séamus Prendergast, Michael Walsh, Jack Kennedy and especially Dan Shanahan have failed to reach anything resembling peak form.

The Ken McGrath experiment at full back did contribute to plugging the leakage of goals but I'm of the opinion that Tony Browne would be more suited to this role. Ken needs the wide open spaces to show his best hurling.

I'm sure Davy Fitzgerald won't be fooled by the Offaly performance and is expecting more. If not, we could well see the bookmakers fooled. With Cork also not certain of putting back-to-back performances together in successive weekends, it makes for fascinating viewing.