Ballygunner bid to become the first ever club to win four consecutive Munster Senior Club Hurling Championships this Sunday.
They take on Sarsfields of Cork in the final at Semple Stadium, having won their last 11 provincial outings.
Former Waterford manager Michael Ryan says despite being overwhelming favourites, nothing is guaranteed. He has paid tribute to the hunger on display from the Gunners - and believes their depth is one of their greatest strengths.
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"If you look back in Waterford over the last five or six years, underage competitions have been dominated by Ballygunner. They've won the under 16, they've won the minor, under 20, under 21, whatever you want to call it. The players are always coming through. These fellas have been for years looking at Pauric Mahony and looking at Shane O'Sullivan and saying to themselves, 'No, I want to get on this team someday down the road' and now they get an opportunity. They're rolling up their sleeves and taking that opportunity, and that's the thing about Ballygunner. They don't seem to have a weakness. They seem to have two or three players for every position. I'm actually amazed at their hunger, the older guys, they have not let up - it's as if they're going for their first title, as if they never won a match before. It's a remarkable trait to have."
A lot has been said down the years about the player pool at Ballygunner's disposal - but this a notion that Ryan has consistenly dismissed. He believes the magnitude of Ballygunner's achievements aren't taken into consideration often enough.
"This is not about population. If sports was about population, China would be beating India in the World Cup Final. This is about organisation, and this is about widening your club, and this is about proper development, proper structures, good underage coaching, bringing people together, keeping them motivated, putting things in place. Every time you go out and deliver it, that's what they do, so I don't think they've got the credit. We were raving about Thurles Sarsfields there for a couple of years. Thurles Sarsfields didn't go on to win an All Ireland. There was other clubs as well. Na Piarsaigh did eventually win one. It's so difficult to do that. Ballygunner are taken for granted. When you consider that no Cork club won a game in the Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship in eight years until two weeks ago - that shows how difficult this competition is."
WLR will bring you the game live this Sunday thanks to George Corbett Skoda.
