McGrath the major Waterford absentee

THE FIRST big hurling match of the championship - and the first live championship broadcast for TV3 - will feature both Waterford and Clare at close to full strength. For Waterford the major absentee as they begin the defence of their Munster title is versatile defender Ken McGrath, who incredibly will miss his first full championship match through injury in 13 years hurling with the county.

McGrath underwent a minor knee operation last Wednesday to ease a cartilage problem that had been bothering him since the training holiday in Portugal earlier this month. This will require another week's rest, and if Waterford progress to set up the semi-final date with Limerick on June 22nd then McGrath should be back to full fitness.

McGrath's loss is at least compensated by the news that Dan Shanahan is fit to play after recovering from a knee injury, and fellow forward Eoin Kelly is also likely to start despite the hand injury that has sidelined him for the past four weeks. Corner back Eoin Murphy and forward Paul Flynn are still out injured.

Clare's main injury loss is wing forward Declan O'Rourke, but otherwise they, too, are practically at full strength. Niall Gilligan had been carrying a neck injury but is fine, while fellow forwards Tony Carmody and Tony Griffin are available at this stage of the championship for the first time in over a year.

Griffin has been back in Clare for the past month having completed his studies in Canada and although fully fit, probably won't start, while Diarmuid McMahon, who had also been away in Australia, is in line to start at centre forward. It's now five years since Clare won a first-round Munster championship match, after beating Tipperary in 2003, and nine years since they last reached a Munster final.

Their manager Mike McNamara says Waterford remind him of Limerick in the mid-1990s. McNamara was part of the Clare backroom team when they won All-Ireland titles in 1995 and 1997 but he insisted that it was an "incredible injustice" that Limerick did not capture the Liam MacCarthy Cup in that period.

Waterford have captured three of the last six provincial crowns but All-Ireland glory has eluded them since 1959. McNamara is hopeful that the Déise can make the big breakthrough eventually but warned that talent alone will not capture the ultimate prize.

McNamara said: "They would have been the team to put it up to Kilkenny in last year's championship but they were caught by Limerick in the semi-final. They remind me of the Limerick team that stormed through in the 1990s and for them to finish without an All-Ireland title was an incredible injustice."

McNamara described Waterford as the "dominant force" in Munster in recent times but said: "But our task is to get Clare back into the real world, the elite of the top six or seven teams and hopefully Sunday will be the first step on that ladder. It should be a marvellous occasion and while the challenge is ferocious, the prize is unbelievable."

Meath are still hopeful that they can get the five players suspended from the infamous league clash against Dublin cleared in time for Sunday's Leinster football quarter final against Wexford. Despite failing in their appeal to the GAA's Central Appeals Committee, the five Meath players - Brendan Murphy, Séamus Kenny, Nigel Crawford, Niall McKeigue and Shane McAnarney - will this Friday have their cases heard by the Disputes Resolution Authority, although it would be highly surprising if their eight-week suspensions are overturned at this stage.

Meanwhile, the GAA are still awaiting further update from Australia Football League (AFL) officials regarding final dates and venues for the potential resumption of the International Rules series next October. Having set last Friday as the deadline for the AFL to come back with confirmation of such venues, the GAA agreed to extend it until the end of this week.

Tyrone forward Owen Mulligan has admitted his hamstring injury will rule him out of their championship opener against Down on Sunday week. Mulligan hasn't trained in over four weeks and won't even be togging out for the game at Omagh, although he is happy the injury - a combination of a hamstring problem and a sciatica nerve problem in his back - is slowly responding to treatment.