Mattie Kerrigan adopted a reproving tone in the dressingroom last February after his Leinster football team had retained the Railway Cup by easily beating Connacht in Castlebar.
The thrust of his point was that reporters had a habit when writing about the competition of not discussing the on-field action before issuing a lengthy medical bulletin on the Railway Cup's state of health.
This was understandable coming from a manager of a team that was well organised and bore a striking resemblance to the best team that the province could put out. Unfortunately, such dedication isn't the hallmark of players' attitudes to the inter-provincial series.
It is frequently said that as the players are in favour of its continuation, the Railway Cup should be allowed survive, even in the total absence of public interest. The trouble with this argument is that it is based on a false premise. Players want the series to continue as long as there's nothing better to do and this weekend is the proof.
Part of the difficulty is that of calendar timing. Devotees of the competition have tried to slot it into dates where it will have as little competition from other fixtures as possible. This is a sensible approach but it foundered on the fact that such dates are vacant because they're not that suitable in the first place.
Playing matches in January will give them a clear run at the public attention but in the past couple of years weather intervened and created fixtures chaos. This weekend, however, is a less inspired choice. Whereas the January experiment was unlucky with the weather, this year's hurling competition is being played on a weekend which is thick with club matches, including the county final of reigning All-Ireland champions, Clare.
For whatever reason, the turnout of interested players is not hectic. As usual, Ulster look the most highly-motivated of the panels, but that relates to their desire to compete with the stronger provinces. Of the other panels, Connacht is again being used as a training spin for Galway, Munster look the strongest even allowing for absentees and Leinster are the most risible, naming what might be considered no better than a thirdstring outfit. That provincial champions Wexford took holidays this week is an example of how highly the Railway Cup rates in the priorities of top players - not that they should forego the break. In addition to the Wexford contingent, there are absentees from the province's other leading teams, Kilkenny and Offaly, with former hurlers of the year D J Carey, who is unwell, and Brian Whelehan amongst the missing.
The key to winning the Railway Cups is the organisation and motivation of the best players available. Leinster's selection of Carlow and Kildare players means that some of the team will want to prove themselves, but as for the rest only time will tell. Last year's final saw a well-drilled and determined Munster side wipe Leinster off the pitch in Ennis and no-one could quite explain the lack of interest amongst the defeated.
Their match today, against Ulster, will be tough, because the northerners are well organised and Sean McGuinness invariably gets the best out them. On the face of it, the outcome looks like another final appearance for Ulster.
In the other semi-final Munster have enough talent available and with Michael McNamara driving them, indifference is unlikely to be a problem. They get the nod to overcome Connacht and win out in tomorrow's final.
John Meaney and Tom Feeney come in for Gary Gater and Michael White in the Waterford hurling team to play Wexford in the Waterford Crystal Southeast League. Meaney came in as a sub in the Oireachtas tournament last Sunday.
Waterford (SH v Wexford): B Landers; O O'Sullivan, J Cullinane, M O'Sullivan; T Browne, J O'Connor, B Greene; JJ Ronane, T Feeney; D Shanahan, G Harris, K McGrath; J Meaney, S Daly, D Bennett.
