It is the enduring mystery of the hurling year.
How did Waterford go from league champions and All-Ireland contenders to finishing fourth in Munster and an early end to their summer?
Manager Liam Cahill hadn't - publicly at least - identified the issue when he departed to take over his native Tipperary.
His successor at Waterford Davy Fitzgerald said that "everybody has their ideas" and that he would make identifying what went wrong a top priority.
Austin Gleeson suggested the team were in good condition but might have been over-confident after their league campaign but then "just folded" in the championship.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport today, Déise forward Dessie Hutchinson felt they might have needed more of a break than the two weeks the compressed schedule between league and championship allowed.
"What actually happened, I don't know," he said. "You are on such a high after the league, maybe we didn't celebrate the league as we should have and reset it then towards the championship. We took no in-between. I know it was a short turnaround but sometimes you have to do that.
"I think it is important to come down off things. Give your mind a little break from the training. To be fair to us, throughout the league we were training very hard. We were fully focused on winning the league. After we won it, maybe you didn't feel like you won it because there was no change of mindset of what was happening the following day, no break. Straight on to the game against Tipperary.
"Things go against you. Injuries and little things going on. We just had a really disappointing Munster championship. If you lose a game in Munster, you’re on the back foot straight away and that’s what happened to us, unfortunately we went to Limerick and lost. We had a home draw against Cork [in round 4] and had everything to play for but we really did underperform on that day."
Nonetheless, he is positive about what 2023 could bring with the new man at the helm: "It's an exciting time to be a player and a supporter with Waterford. Hopefully it will bring us success and we’ll see where the year takes us."
Hutchinson is a key member of a Ballygunner team that has won nine Waterford titles in a row.
Despite two Munsters and a first All-Ireland crown last year, he suggests that the Waterford city club feel they have underachieved somewhat on the national stage.
"We want to go on and win a bit more outside of Waterford as well and we probably haven't done that to the extent we would have liked to in recent years," he said. "That’s what’s driving everyone at the moment.
"It's just young players coming into the set-up and giving a freshness every year. I think we’re really lucky at the moment that we just have really hungry bunch of players that want to achieve as much as they can. It’s the players that are driving it every year to be more and more successful."
The first obstacle in their quest to retain the O'Neill Cup will be Kilruane McaDonaghs, who take on the Gunners on Sunday just seven days after their first Tipp triumph in 37 years - secured with a replay win over Kiladangan.
"Full focus on Kilruane now this weekend," said Hutchinson.
"We won't be taking our eye off them at all and thinking it’s going to be any sort of an easy game. Especially with the weather we’re having, it’s going to be a real dogfight. And we saw from their two games that they’re a team that won’t give in. They’re a hungry group.
"A lot comes with winning a county title. You're on such a high."
With Ballygunner, Hutchinson has the benefit of former Offaly corner-back David Franks' coaching - "He would often say to me 'You wouldn't like to mark me’ and I’m sure I wouldn’t!" - and the man he rates as the "best goalkeeper in the country" at the other end of the field.
But he won't be try to hassle Stephen O'Keeffe into a return after two years away from county duty.
"Everyone in Waterford, myself included, would love to have SOK back," he said of his team-mate. "But he has his own things at home, he’s getting married over the next year so he has a lot going on too. If he wants to come back, there will be no issue there but in terms of persuading him we probably wouldn’t [try to do it].
Hutchinson received his third All-Star nomination this year. Though he is yet to make the final XV, the25-year-old was the only Déise player considered this season.
"To get that recognition was a nice touch, even though we probably did underachieve this year and you'd still be disappointed," he said.
"It would be a proud moment for yourself, your family and your club [to win one] but the team accolades overshadow the individual awards, no matter what they are. But the All-Star is the pinnacle of an individual award so to get one at some stage would be a nice touch. You can throw it into your goals and try for it.
"I think I am an established player in the Ballgunner and Waterford setup. People are probably looking to me to deliver on big days. I really enjoy that pressure and I think I bring the best out of myself in those scenarios."
