John Horgan on hurling: Darragh Fitzgibbon fit and firing is crucial for Cork's hopes

UNLESS the league knockout stages are in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the next time that Limerick visit the Cork headquarters, the stakes will be considerably higher than they were against Tipperary last Saturday night.

That will be when the country's best team, maybe the best team of all time take on Cork in the Munster championship, a game that will be of paramount importance in deciding what three teams from the province go through to the All-Ireland series.

Before all of that, of course, we can look forward to a couple of games with great potential this weekend as the group stage of the league concludes.

Three, in particular, stand out, Wexford against Cork in Wexford Park, Galway against Limerick in Salthill and Waterford taking on Kilkenny in Walsh Park.

The outcome of those games will decide the pairings for the two semi-finals.

The game of the weekend may well be in Wexford Park, the home team and Cork holding nothing back in their quest to finish in the top three of the group and those being participants next season in the elite Division 1.

Both teams had very contrasting experiences last Sunday, Cork annihilating Offaly in Tullamore and Wexford having to dig very deep in Walsh Park to get the better of Waterford. History has shown that no team leaves Wexford Park without having had to enter the trenches to secure the win and that is likely to be the case again this time for Cork.

A far greater test of Cork's credentials against Offaly would surely have been a lot more beneficial and it's open to debate what these very lopsided victories does for a team.

If Cork draw or lose on Sunday we won't see them in competitive action again until the championship opener with Waterford next month.

A victory and the league campaign is extended by another week and it surely goes without saying, that one way or the other, Pat Ryan will want to find out a number of things tomorrow, mainly getting closer to getting his best 15 on the pitch for the championship trek to Walsh Park.

The big decisions to be made by the Cork boss and his selectors will be whether to start some players or maybe decide that they might make a better impact when coming in off the bench.

Cork got a great return from those who came on last Sunday, in particular, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Brian Hayes and Shane Kingston.

It certainly would be a huge surprise if the Charleville player is not on the starting block against Waterford. He hasn't played much hurling thus far this year but in his 25-minute stint in Tullamore his class was evident.

Brian Hayes too is putting up his hand a lot more this time and his confidence levels are growing more and more.

Wexford operated in Walsh Park against Waterford without a number of key players, most notably Conor McDonald, Liam Óg McGovern, Diarmuid Ryan and Rory O'Connor and whether we see them at some stage tomorrow remains to be seen.

Maybe the Cork team selection for the game will give us a greater insight into the starting championship 15 and then again it may not. But, hopefully, win, lose or draw the game will provide the management with a few more of the answers that they are looking for before the first real team selection of the year is announced.

STRANGE

Having travelled to Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Saturday night for the Limerick-Tipperary encounter it's only right that we should make a comment or two about the game. It was certainly a bit strange to be in the Páirc on a Saturday night in March for a league game and Cork not being involved.

All eyes are again on Limerick this year as they make their bid for history, putting together five All-Ireland titles on the trot, something that no team outside the Dublin footballers have ever done.

It's going to be a fascinating watch in their attempt to do so and whilst it was only a league game in the month of March, we saw plenty last Saturday night that told us that this Limerick team are going to give it an almighty go in their quest for something that has never been done or maybe never will be again.

The opening half against Tipperary was fairly mundane stuff but after trailing by seven points at an advanced stage in the opening half, Limerick secured four unanswered points thereafter to close the gap to two at the interval.

At that juncture, the writing was starting to appear on the wall and thus it was proved with Limerick turning up the heat on a viciously cold night and ultimately claiming the points.

It was just the bare minimum between the teams at the end but that scoreline was misleading, Tipp notching a goal with the last puck of the game.

Again the Limerick bench, as it usually does, made a big impact with four of the replacements troubling the scoreboard operator.

A few of the more recent additions to the team, Colin Coughlan and Donnocha O'Dalaigh fitted in seamlessly again and both have to be very much in contention for championship starts.

Cathal O'Neill continues to settle into the centre-back role in the absence of Declan Hannon but it will still be a big call to start him there in the championship opener in Cusack Park against Clare.

Limerick conceded three goals to their rivals on Saturday night, rivals who just can't buy a win against them in league or championship and that concession certainly annoyed John Kiely when he alluded to it afterwards.

Limerick are still some distance off from at being the top end of their game and there were untypical handling errors that are not the norm. But you always leave a game that they have been involved in with the sense that it is starting to come together again.

Their second-half display certainly illustrated that and their squad depth it seems is as deep as it has been for the past four years.

This Limerick squad of players continue to illuminate as they come closer to beginning what might well end up being a historic journey by the latter end of next July.

Finding a way to stop them finding a way as they always seem to do will be the challenge for the rest.