Cork supporters will fully understand why the vast majority of neutrals are hoping that Waterford not alone beat their team at Croke Park today but go on to win the All Ireland.

Waterford supporters may hope that this immense volume of goodwill will be worth an extra point or two to their lads. I trust that the Waterford players realise it won't be.

Wishing it will not make it so.

Outhurling Cork will.

To outhurl Cork, Waterford will have to out-think them.

That's a big ask. History shows that Waterford have rarely out-thought Cork, who for their part have been outthinking opponents since time immemorial . . . and this may well be the most thoughtful Cork team ever. To be 70 minutes away from a fourth successive All Ireland final appearance is some going in this day and age.

In trying to gauge precisely how Cork are fixed right now, we must avoid the kind of wishful thinking mentioned earlier. Some people have suggested that Cork have peaked too soon this season and that their desire may be waning in view of the length of time they've spent on the road.

Often people believe things like this because they want to believe them, particularly when there's a deserving underdog knocking on the door.

Even though they hurled considerably better against Clare than they did against Tipperary and Limerick, I very much doubt if Cork have peaked too early. An outfit as well managed as this one is perfectly capable of calibrating its training so as to be cherry-ripe on a given day.

And let's face it, Cork have been sufficiently ripe to win all three matches they've contested to date this summer.

Yet there's no way the champions should have more desire than the challengers today. If Cork have it in the head, Waterford ought to have it in the belly.

While the former dearly want to emulate the achievements of previous All Irelandwinning teams from Leeside, the latter are burning to bring the McCarthy Cup to Suirside for the first time since 1959.

There's no comparison.

The success of this Cork team is wholly attributable to the fact that that's exactly what they are. A team. I'd be surprised if it takes John Allen and his selectors more than two minutes to pick the side. Virtually the same group of players have been together for four years, with a number of them there since the late 1990s. Notwithstanding the power and reliability of the half-backs and midfielders, every line on the Cork team can be depended on to contribute something to the collective.

Waterford in contrast require more from their big names than Cork do.

When they win it's largely because Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn and Dan Shanahan and John Mullane and Eoin Kelly have hurled well. When they lose it's largely because some or more of this quintet haven't. At their best, hurling up a storm, Waterford are fabulous to watch. They're physically strong and good in the air as well, which always helps.

One small worry is that despite being comfortably the superior side, they were hanging on at the end against Tipp two weeks ago when they should have been out of sight. As Clare will confirm from last year, it's not advisable to do the same against Cork.

Much will rest on the battle between the Waterford half-forward line and the Cork half-back line. Kelly, Shanahan and Seamus Prendergast . . . remember how he overwhelmed none other than Ronan Curran in last year's All Ireland quarter-final? . . . have done well here in the past. Problem is, deploying Kelly at wing-forward will rob the underdogs of an obvious candidate to go head to head with Jerry O'Connor and Tom Kenny at midfield. Michael Walsh did very well in the middle when switched there against Tipperary, but Cork's midfield are vastly superior to Tipp's . . . and, critically, more mobile. The absence of Dave Bennett, who was moving sweetly until injured in the quarter-final, could be as big a blow as that of Flynn. Waterford cannot afford such blows, not against Cork at any rate.

Don't be in any doubt that Cork will have planned to take on Waterford's big wheels and try to stop them in their tracks. They'll start with Mullane, who'll renew old rivalries with Brian Murphy, and work their way through the field from there. Tipperary made a big mistake in asking Francis Devanney to come in from the cold and attempt to get the better of Ken McGrath, and an even bigger mistake in leaving him on McGrath for so long. Niall McCarthy will pose an altogether more serious challenge. For his part Eoin McGrath must avoid getting involved with the opposition defenders like he did a fortnight ago. Become entangled in silly offthe-ball stuff or arguing with one another and Waterford will lose their focus. Lose their focus and they'll lose the game.

Waterford have a good team that includes a number of outstanding individuals. Cork have a number of extremely talented individuals in a really good team. The team to beat the individuals.

Cork to win.

It's great to see Carlow in the Christy Ring Cup final. Antrim, however, are probably too good to be participating in this competition and should win with something to spare. Their presence in the Ring Cup doesn't bother me in any way. The sight of Antrim walking out of Croke Park with a championship trophy for the first time would mark a very good day for hurling.