There's no such thing as a phoney war in the red-hot Munster Hurling Championship.
So says Antrim's Neil McManus, who's expecting a battle for the ages when Limerick welcome Cork to the TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday.
Earlier this week Brian Hayes said of Limerick: "They're still the top team around the place, so we'll be looking forward to trying to bring ourselves up to that level on Sunday."
But McManus is having none of that, suggesting the Rebels absolutely believe they are the county to beat in the race for the Liam MacCarthy Cup this summer.
"Make no mistake about it, Brian Hayes thinks Cork are the best hurling team in the country. There's no second-guessing that. Brian's playing the game there," McManus said on the RTÉ GAA Podcast before analysing where this contest could be won and lost.
"What I can't wait to see is Brian up against Dan Morrissey, because I think that's who he'll have for company.
"Every time we question Dan in any way, shape or form he comes up with the answers. Will he ever have played somebody in the form of Brian Hayes with the physical attributes to match? He's going to get a real test that's sure.
"These are the two teams that both believe they are the best two teams in the country."
The Rebels certainly have a chance to make a statement this weekend. There'd be no bigger declaration of their intentions that beating Limerick on their own patch.
"I would say Cork have said, 'lads, wouldn't it be lovely to go into Limerick now and turn them over? That would be a real sign that we're No 1'," added McManus.
"You can imagine that bus arriving into the middle of Limerick own the Galeic Grounds, the song 'Killeagh' by Kingfishr vibrating the bus as the lads get off.
"The match-ups all around the field... I cannot wait to see Tim O'Mahony go up against Will O'Donoghue, I think that'll be war to be totally honest.
"Then we've Cian Lynch against Robert Downey, even Eoin Downey against the Bull O'Brien, it's mouthwatering every way you look at it."
We're still in Munster, but such is the competitive ferocity of the province that neither of these elite sides can take anything for granted. They will not want to lose and increase the pressure on temseves ahead of next weekend's matches, when Cork face Waterford and Limerick take on Clare.
"These two teams can still end up in the final against each other," said McManus.
"It may well be the dress rehearsal, but there's no room for that so we're going to get the full-blooded version of this. It just might be part one."
Watch a Munster Hurling Championship double-header, Tipperary v Waterford and Limerick v Cork, on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
Listen to the RTÉ GAA Podcast on the RTÉ Radio Player, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Watch The Saturday Game this weekend from 9.40pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player
