Tipperary's Eoin Kelly has praised tomorrow's All-Ireland semi-final opponents Waterford for the manner in which they have bounced back from their All-Ireland final humiliation two years ago.

"After what happened to Waterford two years ago, hammered in an All-Ireland final (by Kilkenny), they could have turned around and said - to hell with this. They didn't, they stuck with it, got to the Munster final last year, won it this year," said Kelly, who has been passed fit to line out at full forward for Tipp.

"The thing about Waterford this year, they seem to be fitter and stronger than ever, better conditioned, and this is all under Davy (Fitzgerald). Against Cork, in extra-time, there was Tony Browne coming out with the ball time after time, as fresh as when the game started - you have to compliment Davy for all that. Tactically too they've been very good this year.

"All the talk about Cork after the Tipp match was the long ball in to Aisake - they dealt well with that, didn't they? They seemed to have really tightened up, gone very tactical, and this will probably be a very tactical game.

"They have probably one of the meanest defences in the championship; before, Waterford would outscore you but they'd probably struggle in defence - not this year, they're very well organised."

The five-time All-Star continued: "We have great respect for Davy, his drive and his passion - that's what he bases his game on, that's his ethos, and he's carried that to Waterford. The only thing now is that we're after getting a bit of experience in Croke Park, having knocked around there for the last couple of years.

"But then you look at Waterford - they were there in 2002, in 04, 06, 07, 08. They have won more big games in Croke Park than Tipperary have over the last 10 years, so you have to respect that too. We have a small bit of experience, they have massive experience." Tweet

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