After two games in the All-Ireland Championship, Waterford sit third in the standings with one win and one loss on the board.
Last weekend, in the second round, Jerry Wallace's Déise kept up their winning record over Limerick, smashing the Treaty County by 21 points at Walsh Park to register their first points of the campaign.
Kilkenny - who Waterford play this weekend - and Tipperary top the table on six points each, with the Cats ahead on points difference.
Mairéad O'Brien continued her goal-scoring run in the win over Limerick, netting twice in the first half with Orla Hickey, Maggie Gostl and Annie Fitzgerald also raising green flags.
A fifteen-point Déise lead at the break was compounded for Limerick in the second half with Waterford scoring 3.04 to Limerick's seven points.
The scoreline could have been worse for the hosts, who were handed a reprieve when minor star Gostl, making her long-awaited senior debut and having already raised a green flag, missed out on a second goal in her first senior game for the county.
With such a healthy advantage, manager Jerry Wallace was able to rest his star player, Beth Carton with ten minutes remaining, with seven points tucked firmly in her pocket.
A step up in quality beckons this weekend however. Kilkenny have their sights on a 16th title and a first since the 2022 win over the current champions, Cork.
Peter Cleere's team have taken wins in their opening two games, beating Antrim and Limerick by a combined 42 points to comfortably sit at the top of the table in Group 1. They've made it to this stage of the season without some key players as the youth begin to put their heads above the parapet.
All-Ireland-winning Captain Denise Gaule is away in Australia while stalwart defender Claire Phelan has retired. It hasn't stopped Kilkenny's march so far this year with five players handed senior debuts in their decimation of Limerick.
A win over Kilkenny would mark down a first such result for Waterford at senior level, potentially going into the books along with Championship wins over Tipperary and Cork in the past two seasons.
The action is underway at UPMC Nowlan Park from 3 pm on Saturday and WLR will keep you updated throughout.
