Former Cork All-Ireland winner Aoife Murray believes Waterford can take a massive step this weekend by finally getting over the quarter-final hump, provided they can shed the baggage of past defeats.
Waterford, with only a single (losing) All-Ireland final appearance in 1945, have fallen at the quarter-final hurdle four years running, losing to Tipperary in 2020 and 2021.
However, Tipp are no longer part of the equation in 2022, falling at the group stage after a six-point loss at home to Waterford, Abby Flynn's first half goal the pivotal score in the Thurles encounter.
It means the stranglehold of the familiar quartet - Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Tipp - on the semi-finals has been broken, Waterford and Limerick facing into a golden opportunity this weekend.
Limerick, placed in the more forgiving Group 2 and relegated in this year's league, enter as underdogs but Murray says they have the benefit of entering with less pressure and a lot hinges on how Waterford deal with past baggage.
"The more you look at it, the harder it becomes to call," Murray told Game On on RTÉ 2fm. "It reflects the group stages and just how tight it was between both groups - Group 1 and 2.
"It's a day that Waterford have become quite accustomed to. However, they've been accustomed to coming second in that match. That can be a hard habit to break.
"So, you might look at it as advantage Limerick. It's bonus territory to them. Is there a little pressure on Waterford to break the quarter-final (hoodoo) and get that semi-final spot.
"It has to be somewhere in the back of their mind. A huge amount of these players have been there for the last four years and they just haven't seen the brighter side of the quarter-finals. Equally, it has to be a motivating factor -a bit of history getting through
"Derek Lyons has done a great job there, since settling in, he should hopefully using it as a massive motivational tool and I would expect Waterford to be sprinting to that finish line."
Kilkenny meet Dublin in the other semi-final, the 2020 champions entering the game unbeaten in the championship thus far and firm favourites to make another semi-final.
Murray says that Brian Dowling's side will be emboldened after their impressive draw with defending champions Galway in the final Group 2 game in Athenry.
"It's no disrespect to Dublin, but Kilkenny, being a confident top-three team for the last 10 years, you would have to think they are out and out favourites," says Murray.
"Nearly more so after that last game against Galway. Because I thought they huffed and puffed in the championship in many ways. But that last day against Galway, when they came up against that top tier team, they showed their grit and their ability. That probably couldn't have happened at a better stage in that championship.
"Dublin are up against it but they have really impressed me, how they've gone about their business in the championship so far.
"They are down a number of players, it's something Brian Dowling touched on after the drawn game. They're still counting on the same players.
"They're still relying a little bit on Miriam Walsh, who has been off form in the last year. I never liked her too close to the goals because they have an excellent ability to make a lot of hay in very little room.
"It still comes down to (Denise) Gaule firing on all cylinders. So, I would imagine Dublin targeting her to prevent her having any impact on the game.
"When she goes out of the game, Kilkenny go out of the game. When she comes back into the game, all of a sudden, they've had a few points on the board, they've had a goal chance or they've scored a goal. Her ability to impact the game is second to none."
The respective group winners Cork and Galway await in the semi-finals - an open draw still required to decide the last-four pairings - though Murray holds concerns for her own county following their ultimately immaterial Round 5 Group loss to Tipperary last time out. Either way the presence of Waterford or Limerick will mean a more novel semi-final quartet than we've become used to.
"You've Cork and Galway waiting there. It's two different routes. With that last defeat to Tipperary, it was quite a sore defeat for Cork camogie. Will they have the ability or the time to pick themselves up and get themselves back in a positive mind-frame? That is the big question. Obviously, Galway flying through the championship, they're in fine fettle.
"The Limerick-Waterford game , that really is the one you'd be tuning into, it'd be a massive step for them getting into a semi-final. But that's what you want to see. You don't always want to see Cork, Kilkenny, Galway and Tipperary in those semi-final spots."
Watch the All-Ireland Camogie quarter-finals on Saturday, Limerick v Waterford (3.15pm), Dublin v Kilkenny (5.30pm), live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow live blog on RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport.
