WE hardly have time to blink this weekend as the quality of GAA offerings goes up a notch, headlined of course by the Munster hurling final. Thankfully Sunday doesn’t feature any time clashes, the Connacht football final and hurling from Thurles on their own at 2pm and 4pm.

On Saturday that is not the case. The games come thick and fast, with some at the same time. There are ties that capture the imagination and will make for compulsive viewing.

First among them is Waterford and Kilkenny, the Thurles main event and Sky’s first choice. You couldn’t blame them because this game will be definitive. The winners don’t just come back in the championship, they roar back to life.

I was in Nowlan Park last weekend and the Cats looked to me like a team on life support. They got over Limerick, but only just, thanks to the brilliance of Michael Fennelly, but they’ll need more than the Ballyhale supremo to be on top form against the Déise. They’ll need seven, eight or nine of their side playing at the top of their game, and on recent evidence it is hard to see that happening.

Brian Cody, with all the inside knowledge available to him, appears not to know what is ailing his team.

The most obvious casualty this year, and for most of last season as well, has been Richie Hogan who looks like an impostor when set against the hurler of 2014 and 2015. The support for TJ Reid has been sporadic at best, the forwardline spluttering and subject to numerous match to match changes. Clearly Kilkenny don’t know their best side and patchy form isn’t making that call any easier.

What they can feel better about is their defence, which did show some of their normal characteristics against Limerick. After being lost at centre back, Paul Murphy reminded us of his talents – the same is true for Padraig Walsh and Cillian Buckley. The rearguard is coming around, Fennelly has breathed life into the engine room – surely the attack has to be next, but the Cats can’t wait much longer for that to happen. A repeat of last weekend means it’ll be all over for them.

Waterford have some of the same problems, namely a recent loss of spark, but they have the motivation to rise for this game after last year’s semi-final heartbreak.

They have the blend of talent and toughness to reap a lot more than Limerick could sow. It’s probably over for Derek McGrath if they don’t win, but I believe their defiance will carry them over the line.

That spirit will also have to be sourced by Tipperary, who took an alarmingly long time to kill off Westmeath. Where did their mojo go? Surely they’ll find enough to see of a Dublin side that have been listless for some time now.

The most impressive teams of the hurling championship to date have been Cork and Galway. The most talked about has been Wexford, the most discussed have been Tipperary, Kilkenny and Waterford in the famed Morning Ireland qualifier draws.

No-one is talking about Clare. Yet this Sunday they could be catapulted into the All-Ireland picture by winning the Munster championship. I think they will.

Of course it would take an immaculate performance to topple a rejuvenated Cork side that have easily been the team of the summer, but that display mightn’t be necessary. If Cork, for the third time out in championship, do not hit the peaks of May and June, then they are vulnerable. No better group than this Banner side to exploit that.

It seems like a lot longer than four years ago that many of these same Clare players were beating many of these same Cork players in the All-Ireland final. We shouldn’t forget that the Clare tyros of that immortal October night included Tony Kelly, Shane O’Donnell, David McInerney, Colm Galvin and Podge Collins. Those five players, in the same order, are now aged 23, 23, 24, 24 and 25.

Clare are still young, and if anything only approaching their peak. This Munster medal is the last one those lads are missing, having won everything else in the game. They are at full strength on Sunday and are fully primed to tear into Cork. My spies tell me that David McInerney will be fit, Oisin O’Brien and Cian Dillon are pushing for hard and that Clare will hit the ground running in the home of hurling.

The Cork of this summer, the one that has seen rebirth of Patrick Horgan, Conor Lehane, Chris Joyce, Mark Ellis and Seamus Harnedy, the one that has unveiled Shane Kingston, Luke Meade, Mark Coleman, Colm Spillane and Darragh Fitzgibbon – that team will take stopping.

But one operating just a little below their previous standards? That’s the side Clare can and will beat, (Cork to reach the All-Ireland final though!).

CONNACHT CLASH

In Pearse Stadium the football final looks like a Galway benefit as they bid to match their hurlers (kind of). However, a year ago in the same situation the Tribe fluffed their lines and could only draw with the Rossies, who went on to fall apart in the replay and then exit tamely to Clare on the same field.

This time Roscommon should put up a better fight as they have been waiting a year for their chance at redemption. Going down by a point or two or three, in a struggle that lasts into the last few minutes will suffice. There could be a kick in them too in the qualifiers. Galway have higher ambitions, winning this game not the summit of those.

Saturday is qualifier day and the best of the menu must be Clare and Mayo in Ennis. A big crowd in a small ground equals an atmosphere that crackles. The natives, and I count myself among them, half fancy our chances.

There is logic to this, namely Clare’s impressive battle with Kerry and subsequent win in Laois, while Mayo, well, they’re just Mayo. Capable of beating and losing to anyone. At the very least they leave opponents in games. We’re hoping to make it an exceptional weekend for the Banner, starting with this unlikely victory. Either way, a special evening is guaranteed.

Both Donegal and Meath apparently hid their lights under bushels a little too well against Longford and Sligo. Navan hosts another unique pairing, with hope fading in each county after some poor displays. I suspect Donegal might have more appetite for a longer summer.

Wexford and Monaghan must go the way of the Division 1 side, while Armagh can add to Westmeath’s recent woes. Carlow should account for Leitrim at home, their form against Dublin has since been franked, while Tipperary and Cavan has extra time written all over it.