On a bumper weekend of Allianz Hurling League action, the RTÉ Sport cameras will bring us the pick of the litter with an All-Ireland final rematch down for decision at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening - and Clare legend Anthony Daly reckons we're in for a "mouthwatering" evening's action.
The Rebels looked in shape to end their two-decade All-Ireland title drought when they led Saturday's opponents by six points at half-time in last July's Liam MacCarthy decider.
But a second-half capitulation meant it was the Premier County who bridged their own six-year All-Ireland gap. It's now six defeats in the final game of the season for Cork since their last All-Ireland title in 2005.
Cork, under the leadership of new boss Ben O'Connor, have started their league season with the attitude of a team who look determined to shed their bridesmaids tag - and Daly is confident that hurling fans are about to see the best of both sides on Saturday.
"This one is mouthwatering. I don't think there’ll be any shadow-boxing, these two will go at it," Daly told Cathal Mullaney and Marty Morrissey on the RTÉ GAA podcast this week.
"I know they meet in the first round in Munster and you might think that they might pull back a bit.
"Ben [O’Connor] has made no secret of the fact that they’re going to give everyone on the panel a chance, so you might see a bit of experimentation and Liam [Cahill] has done that already. But, for this one, no one is going to want to take a backward step.
"[O'Connor] left William Buckley out in Galway but he was Man of the Match down in Páirc Uí Chaoimh [against Waterford]. It’s fairly likely he’ll come back in.
"Darragh O’Leary at number three, he’s got two 70 minutes under his belt now, reasonably good I think. Jason Rabbitte caused him a problem or two but he was fairly steady. Does Ben think he’s the long-term solution to number three?
"Number three is a bit of an issue for them, Eoin Downey could play in the half-back line very easily – would Robert [Downey] revert to three? There’s a bit of talk about Ciarán Joyce even being a possible three, so that full-back line has to be settled a bit more and three is the crucial one there.
"Will Liam Cahill now start John McGrath on the edge of the square? We know the damage he done there in the All-Ireland, so it’s fascinating. So many of the young Tipp players have been putting up their hands saying 'I want a piece of this’… it’s fascinating, we’ll all be waiting to see what ways the managers go when the teams come out."
Cork boss O'Connor lamented last week that the beloved small ball game may be gone a bit on the 'soft' side for his liking, but his side have shown no lack of bite in the opening fortnight of the league season, pummeling a lacklustre Waterford side in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on opening weekend before making it out of Salthill with both points against Galway last week.
"The first day, I couldn’t believe how passive Waterford were," Daly commented. "The contrast in them within a week [in beating Limerick], they obviously had a good, hard look at themselves and they responded.
"On the day, it was too easy for Cork – I think it was 0-10 to 0-01 after 10 minutes. The biggest benefactors on the day were the Cork footballers because the crowd were in and they came with a late rally to beat Cavan!
"But Cork were impressive. In Salthill, they were down six points in the first half, they responded just before half-time, it got a bit hot and heavy in the tunnel and there was a great buzz about the place.
"Cork got the two goals from Brian Hayes, Galway didn’t give up the ghost and they got the next four points from young Aaron Niland. Ben would have been much happier leaving Salthill than he was the first day, because he learned a bit more. They got a true test of character and they came through it again."
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