Waterford and Galway meet today in the second round of the hurling qualifiers.
The winner will proceed to the All-Ireland Quarterfinals, while the loser's hurling year is over.
The last time the sides met in the Championship was the 2017 All-Ireland final, a day that will be fondly remembered in Galway - but not so much at this end of the country. Derek McGrath guided the Deise to Croke Park that year, with Dan Shanahan on the sideline throughout - cap turned backwards and the intensity matching that of the players on the pitch at Croke Park.
This time around, Dan will be in the commentary box for WLR, while it's Liam Cahill, Mikey Bevans et al on the sideline. Waterford squeaked past Laois last weekend in their first-round game, while Galway had a bye straight to round two along with Cork. Dan is expecting a tough challenge from the Tribesmen in Thurles, but says that there is means and ways to get around it, "We know they're going to bring physicality, but Liam Cahill and his management team surely watched the Dublin game and how they dealt with the physicality. They scored 1-14. The fullback line, that day for Dublin was absolutely outstanding. Conor Whelan to his credit was the one man that brought the fight to Dublin that day."
Galway, as Dan points out, are coming into this game off the back of a loss that they should have marked down as a win. Few would have tipped Dublin to win that game before throw-in. The underdog Dubs set a blueprint for how the Westerners could be stopped, and Dan is hoping that the Waterford team can replicate or improve on that template if they are to claim a place in the All-Ireland qualifiers, "For us to compete, to win the game, I think we'd have to just keep on going; a bit like the Wexford game, that lads will go all out to run and run. If the ball goes into rucks Galway have the physicality to win the break. But again, you look at the Dublin game - they scored 1-14; if they [Galway] score 1-14 on Saturday Waterford will win the game."
These two teams find themselves in All-Ireland qualifiers when really they should have been able to earn the right to progress through their provincial deciders. With Waterford having hit the heights of the All-Ireland final with Limerick last year and Galway falling at the semi-final stage to the same team, both outfits could well feel aggrieved to be in their respective positions. Shanahan is expecting a big performance to come from one or both of these teams, but the weight of history still looms for the Deise side, "It's a tricky one because people are saying "Galway are going to come with this", "They won't be as bad", "Waterford haven't hit the heights of last year", so it's going to be an intriguing game because both teams haven't hit the heights. When you ask any set of supporters, they'd say Galway are going to hit the height at some stage. We're in for an interesting game. I think Waterford have a great chance again."
"Unfortunately the only time Galway beat Waterford in the championship - to my knowledge - is 2017 and that was a big disappointment because it was the All-Ireland final obviously and I was involved. They've struggled to beat us in Thurles over the years as well, so Waterford have nothing to lose. I do respect Galway. I respect where they come from. It's all about getting to the next round, winning by a point, parking it, and getting on to the next round - whoever you're playing."
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3O3tUyyIyZ5hhdvJSXlpxL?si=68a938e036264360
