Déise hurling boss Davy Fitzgerald is aiming for a top three finish in this year's National League.
The round one meeting of Offaly v Waterford will be our George Corbett Skoda Big Match on Sunday.
Seven teams will compete in the new Division 1A for 2025. Division 1 is currently made up of two groups of six. The top three from each group will qualify for 1A next year as well as the fourth placed team with the best record.
"The league we want is to be in the top three," Fitzgerald told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "That's what we want. Is that possible? If I have all my panel, I'm very certain we're in the top three. I think the first week or two is important. Being down the lads I named is a big ask. We played Offaly last year in Tinryland. I think we beat them by five points and we had a pretty full team. We know we're in for a battle. You can see with their underage success, they're coming back. They'll fancy their chances knowing how many guys we're missing. I've heard they've been going pretty well in challenge games."
The Clare man want to see his Waterford team play with blood and thunder this season. "The big thing for me is that we show character, serious pride and fight to the bitter end. Let's call a spade a spade, 1959 is the last time Waterford won an All Ireland. Whatever way we can give ourselves an opportunity of getting there, we do it. To be competitive and fighting and tackling and hassling for every ball is going to be very important. That we absolutely throw the kitchen sink at it."
Join Kieran O'Connor and Brian Flannery for live coverage of the George Corbett Skoda Big Match from 1.45 on WLR.
Listen back to the full interview with Davy Fitzgerald from Friday's Lár Na Páirce show.
