National Hurling League - Waterford: Ian O'Riordanfinds the veteran Waterford manager's enthusiasm and zeal undimmed.

There's a scene in the new Daniel Day-Lewis film, There Will Be Blood, where his character Daniel Plainview announces his ambitions as an oil prospector by saying, "I can assure you, ladies and gentleman, no matter what the others promise to do, when it comes to the showdown, they won't be there."

Such confidence is rarely displayed in sport, although there are hints of it in Waterford manager Justin McCarthy when he announces his hurling ambitions for 2008.

Waterford, he says, have every intention of defending their National League title, which starts with Sunday's game against Wexford, and when it comes to the ultimate hurling showdown they have every intention of being there too.

"There's a lot of experience in this team, and we know ourselves what's involved," says McCarthy. "With the league, we always want to get into the closing stages, and that's our intention again.

"There's no doubt that the interest is there, we're all very determined to go out and play, and be successful. There's no such thing as guys holding on, or falling behind. We're not that kind of a team. We've a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the set-up, and good harmony all round. And an appreciation as well, which is important."

Last year's championship ended with the surprise semi-final defeat to Limerick, soon after Waterford had beaten Cork in a two-match epic. With that, it seemed, time had run out for the team that been had striving towards All-Ireland success for almost a decade. McCarthy, however, views time in a different way.

"Time only runs out when you don't want to win, or don't want to be 100 per cent behind the whole thing. I think the chance is there, no doubt about that. You never know how far away you are. You just need to be well up coming into the closing stages of the championship, and to have everything going for you.

"If we can stay clear of injury, and pick up another player or two, we'll give it a good shot. But last year is all forgotten. We're just tuned into 2008. We've lost no players, but we've added a few."

After six years in the job, during which time he delivered three Munster titles and last year's league (Waterford's first since 1963), some felt McCarthy's time had also run out, that maybe he was getting stale and that Waterford needed a fresh approach. McCarthy never once saw it that way.

"There's not a day or an hour in the week that goes by that I don't think about hurling. It's my whole life. It's part of me, and I just couldn't leave it go. But I've a simple life as well, which is very important. I live in the country, and I've a passion about hurling that has never left. I've a desire to help, to train.

"I'm down in Waterford for one purpose, to help them develop, to become better players, to get better ideas about the game, and try to be successful. Any team you go too, you have to have that drive, and enthusiasm, and that desire. Nothing can stop you, and you can't make up excuses, or whatever. I'm my own man too.

"You have to be hell bent on trying to get success, and to develop teams, and to get them to enjoy what they do in the hurling arena.

"But I wasn't going to walk away. And either way I'll be involved in hurling as long as I've good health and so on. I don't look at hurling in that aspect. Some managers come and go. Do their thing, get the awards for it. But this is my life, and I'll always be involved in some capacity. Of course, you need to be strong-minded, single-minded, and realise there will be ups and downs, that it's a long haul to win something."

The All-Ireland semi-final defeat was certainly a downer, given Waterford's heroic displays in the quarter-final and subsequent replay against Cork. In hindsight, the effort of those three games within two weeks was simply too great for Waterford to handle.

"They were all high-powered games, in two weeks," says McCarthy. "Hurling is a game where you need to be fresh, and have the appetite. Even though we had that appetite, to an extent, the hurling reactions, the keenness, and that bit of quickness that you need to get into a game early, we didn't really have that. We were 20 minutes getting into that Limerick game, hit 16 or 17 wides as well. They were the factors that went against us."

Waterford will start their defence of the league without five key players - Tony Browne, Paul Flynn, Ken McGrath, Eoin McGrath and Stephen Molumphy - who are either injured or on a break, although McCarthy expects to have them all back on board come the summer showdowns.

"We'll be introducing new players as well. It's a 30-man panel now, and there'll be no favouritism. We probably have to develop players more than other counties. We don't have minor or under-21 All-Irelands in Waterford, so we can't just pick young players on big days. There's no doubt we have developed players, but you'll see some new faces again this year, starting on Sunday.

"We're probably two or three weeks behind on last year, but I still think we'll give a good account of ourselves on Sunday. There's always a good bite in Wexford-Waterford games."

The league final is set for April 20th, and in this sort of mood, Waterford look good to be there.