If I was from Waterford and hadn't read the relevant chapter, I'd be annoyed too; the county have been as good for hurling as Wexford were in the mid-'90s; just hurling hasn't been as good to them. The truth is, most Waterford people "upset" about Corcoran's "comments" haven't read the book; the rest are either easily swayed by one uncharacteristically unfair, Cork-bashing newspaper column and borrowed talk, or they are just easily offended.

Thankfully, there are many people prepared to make up their own minds, but for those of you who haven't read the book or missed the Tribune's extract of this year's classic All Ireland semi-final, Corcoran also described Waterford as "a serious outfit, one of only two teams who really believe they're better than us"; his sympathy for and exchange with Seamus Prendergast at the final whistle; how he admires Ken McGrath ("I see him and I see myself as I once was") and "genuinely hope some day he finds what he's looking for"; the empathy and plaudits go on.

Even the infamous listed "criticisms" can be taken by Waterford folk as a backhanded compliment or a list of home truths. Context is everything. Half of Corcoran's book is in diary format and in it he describes how if "Cork and Waterford both play like they did in their respective All Ireland quarter-finals, Waterford will win". So Cork convene a council of war. Their training sessions become more intense, game-specific (if he was of a more sensitive disposition, John Allen could interpret the book's portrayal of him as unflattering, instead of the warm, reasoned leader he is). And out of fear of their upcoming opponents, they outline their own identity by affirming their strengths and Waterford's weaknesses.

Most teams do it. James McGarry confided that before this year's All Ireland, Kilkenny outlined they were the only side unbeaten in 2006, not Cork, and "who should be afraid of whom". The Tuesday after their insipid display in the 2004 league final against Galway, Justin McCarthy had his team play a 20-minute game in training, and then told them they were as good as any team in the country.

Waterford's All Ireland record makes that claim laughable but the thing is Waterford believed it and it worked, as their subsequent humiliation of Clare proved.

As for those two posters in the Cork dressing room, one outlining Cork's world, another outlining Waterford's: "Losing;

Fighting; Blaming others; Playing for oneself, not the team; Relying on luck;

Bringing others down to their level."

Some Cork players wouldn't have read it.

Others wouldn't have agreed with all of it.

Corcoran didn't agree with "bringing others down to their level"; he says of Cork-Waterford games, "it's always a game of ball with hardly any messing". He wouldn't have agreed with the "relying on luck" part either. But he recorded it because it was there and a critical analysis would suggest it was rightfully there.

Cork's statistician was involved in preparing that poster and the stats show that between Eoin Kelly's goals in the 2004 Munster final and 2006 All Ireland semi-final, Waterford's only goalscorers against top-nine opposition have been Paul Flynn (mostly through frees) and Dan Shanahan. For every goal they score, they concede three; how can you win All Irelands like that? With Waterford, there are no Comerford-to-Shefflin-like exchanges, or assists for goals like Niall McCarthy's to Ben O'Connor in this year's All Ireland or Joe Deane's to Cathal Naughton against Waterford. In the last five years against top-nine opposition, Waterford's only pure assists for goals have been Michael Walsh's handpass to John Mullane in the 2004 Munster semifinal and, at a push, Prendergast's low ball for Paul O'Brien's match-winner the same day. That's tantamount to inefficient teamwork and reliance on luck.

Waterford can use that page from Corcoran's book the day they next play Cork in Thurles or Croke Park, and maybe win the first 15 minutes. Use it in March when a teammate slacks off or gets sent off like Kelly and Flynn did in this year's league and they might win that All Ireland.

Two things typified Brian Corcoran's career: his desire to be the best and his honesty; it is how the man won three All Irelands and was never booked in his senior career. He approached Beyond the Tunnel, Liam Dunne's I Crossed The Line and Christy O'Connor's Last Man Standing, hurling fans expect to be taken into the dressing room, beyond the tunnel, across that line . . . and to know what's said there.

Be it Clare, Frank Murphy, Larry Tompkins, Billy Morgan and Allen, Corcoran is fair and honest about all subjects, for all his occasional criticisms of them. Waterford likewise. Grant accuses Corcoran of levelling "criticisms" at them after the game when he had only praise for them. While Kilkenny are obviously Cork's greatest threat, CorkWaterford is the 21st century's greatest hurling rivalry, something Corcoran concurs with when saying "if we were Ali, then they [Waterford] would be our Frazier".

When Corcoran thanks in his acknowledgements the "great men that I have played against", he's thinking of men like McGrath and Shanahan. Corcoran deserves that respect to be reciprocated.

As Dan might say, if you don't know the book, then don't judge it.