The difference between a team which wants to win and a team which is terrified of losing was never more obvious than at Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday. With a comfortable victory over Limerick staring them in the face, Waterford blinked, lost their concentration and composure and, inevitably, the match…

The signs of their mental fragility were numerous. They allowed themselves to get involved in several physical altercations midway through the first half which suited Limerick down to the ground as it disrupted the free flow of play which had been working devastatingly to Waterford’s advantage. They gave away a series of silly frees which Paul O’Grady punished to the full. And they hit some terrible wides and aimless long balls into the Limerick goalie at a time when a few extra scores would probably have buried the Shannonsiders.

It is this tendency to choke within sight of victory which was Ger Loughnane’s main target when he first took charge of Clare. His concentration on super fitness was partly aimed at convincing his players that, in a tight finish, they would have a physical advantage over their opponents. He also sought players with mental toughness and worked on developing their hurling skills. In his recent TG4 profile, he explained how a moderate player with ‘attitude’ is of much greater worth than a skillful player without bottle.

Take the case of Paul Flynn on Sunday. One would have thought after his well-taken early goal that he would have taken the game by the scruff of the neck. Instead, he allowed his bad subsequent goal miss go to his head and lost his concentration completely. He was all at sea as his marker Steve McDonagh repeatedly got to the ball first to clear his lines, and on the few occasions when he did get possession, Flynn either fumbled or shot wide. A more focused Flynn would have gone for a goal from the two late close-in frees awarded to Waterford. Flynn the ‘loser’ opted instead for points.

Limerick, by contrast, had plenty of leaders to drag them back from the precipice, including the aforementioned McDonagh, the indomitable Mark Foley and, above all others, the magnificent Ollie Moran. Moran is a player whom An Moltóir had long ago written off as a stylish shaper with little substance. The transformation in his play this year has been little short of astonishing. At the same time, Gerald McCarthy’s failure to take any measures to stem his dominance showed up once again the Waterford manager’s notorious inability to make astute (or even obvious) changes on the sideline. Compare this with Eamonn Cregan’s rapid and radical reaction to the unfolding events of the first fifteen minutes. Fergal Hartley, winning good ball on the Waterford forty and clearly in good form, should have been moved back to mark Moran. Failing that, Johnny Brenner - a good ball winner with physique - Tom Feeney or even Ken McGrath could have been tried. But then, what can one expect from a manager who placed substitute Anthony Kirwan in midfield a position with which he is totally unfamiliar?

Whatever McCarthy’s qualities as a coach, it is clear that he was not the man to lead Waterford out of the wilderness. The Déise’s single greatest problem is self-belief, and inculcating this is not part of the Leeside coaching lexicon, as it is a quality which comes naturally to the Rebels. The experience of Loughnane with Clare and Griffin with Wexford would suggest that one needs an insider with the passion and leadership qualities to transcend the culture of defeat with which these two counties were also imbued. Unless a similar Messiah emerges from the fog of Suirside self-doubt, Waterford’s hurling future looks bleak indeed.

Meanwhile, the poor fare in Croke Park in the Leinster hurling semi-finals shows just how lop-sided the All-Ireland championship has become. Three super games in Munster, a series of dreary encounters in Leinster and Galway, one of the best teams in the land, sitting on their hands while the summer drains away. This is ridiculous. And the new format planned for next year is unlikely to improve matters much. The prospect of, say, Waterford, Cork and Offaly playing Down, Kildare and Westmeath in the losers’ group will do nothing either for hurling or the status of the hurling championship.

It is time to sweep aside the hidebound traditionalists who control the GAA and unleash the real potential of the hurling championship. There are nine top-class hurling counties. Throw in Laois to make up ten. Divide them into two groups of five, and let them play off in a round-robin system four matches in June and July, with the top two in each group qualifying for the All-Ireland semi-finals and the last team in each group playing off for relegation. Virtually all matches would have a competitive edge, as teams strove either to qualify for the final stages or to avoid relegation. TV audiences and the paying public would have the opportunity to watch the top players playing top-class games on a regular basis at the time of the year most conducive to hurling. Media hype and popular engagement would build up as the competition progressed and games became increasingly important. Massive additional revenue would be generated for pumping back into the game. And players would be faced with the prospect of more reasonable training routines and spared the prospect of wasting six months of grinding preparation only to have their championship hopes dashed by a bad bounce of the ball or an eccentric refereeing decision.

Imagine this: with so few top-class hurling counties, Waterford have still never played Wexford or Offaly in a championship match. This is absolutely crazy. But then what else can you expect from an organisation that allows hurling semi-finals in Munster and Leinster to be played on the same day thus denying the huge television audience the opportunity to witness another magnificent contest in the Munster championship. This, of course, is the same organisation which has managed to omit the best hurling venue in the land Thurles from the entire roster of hurling championship matches this year. It is truly a tribute to the innate quality of the game of hurling that it continues to thrive with such a crowd in charge of it.