WATERFORD’S PAURIC MAHONY can pinpoint the moment this season when he finally felt his form returning.
In May 2015 the Ballygunner forward suffered a horrific broken leg and he spent 10 months out of action before being slowly reintroduced into the Waterford team during the league.
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
But it wasn’t until the weeks leading up to the Munster semi-final against Clare did Mahony start to regain his confidence on the field.
“I think from the league final replay to the Munster championship, that was a big four or five weeks for me,” he said. “Playing games and training I felt very good but I was getting a couple of minutes in the league games and I was like, ‘It’s going to take me a long time to get back.’
“Sometimes it’s actually easier to start the game than come into it because every game has that first couple of minutes where everyone is trying to get up to the pace of things.
“Certainly those 5 weeks I felt a massive improvement in terms of fitness and getting up to the speed of games because there was plenty of games in amongst that period so it really helped.
“I’ve nearly 6 months of hard training now and I haven’t missed one session since back in February. Touch wood everything has gone to plan.”
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It had been sunny skies for Waterford’s young team for most of 2016. Their league final replay loss to Clare appeared to be just a hiccup and they exacted revenge on the Banner in the championship just four weeks later.
Then the Munster final happened. Tipperary ran out 21-point victors, putting up 5-19 as Waterford had a disappearing act.
As bad as it was, Waterford turned things around and were never troubled by Wexford in the quarter-final, emerging as 10-point winners.
“It was said amongst the players, ‘we owe it to Derek [McGrath] to put in a performance,’ continued Mahony. “The Munster final was no reflection on the work he put in. The players, we let ourselves down on the field.
“It wasn’t any management decision, it was players underperforming. There was pressure on Derek’s back. He was going to be the one to bear the brunt of it if we were to lose against Wexford so we owed it to him.
“Thankfully we did get through it because the work he’s after putting in, and Dan, has been incredible over the last few years.”
James Crombie / INPHO
James Crombie / INPHO / INPHO
Waterford reacted well to the adversity and went back to doing what they do best. The work-rate and defensive shape improved. They held Wexford to 11 points, and just seven from play.
It was a game that, as much as anything, solidified what this team are about. Mahony agrees with his manager’s estimation that it was the application of the game plan, rather than the system itself that let them down against Tipperary.
“I suppose we said that as players we didn’t follow the plan accordingly in the Munster final. That was one of the most disappointing things in the Munster final because we felt we did abandon it. Derek highlighted that himself after it.
“As a group we all buy into the way we play and we still 100 percent believe the way we play is the best way to move forward. At the end of the day if you’re winning games it’s great and it’s brushed aside but it is flagged then when you do have the big loss like the one we had against Tipperary.
“You’ll find flaws in any system on the back of a bad performance and it’s not something that bothers the players. We’re just interested in working hard and if we’re winning games at the end of the day we don’t really mind.”
There is no hiding now. There’s no easy way out against Kilkenny, who haven’t lost a championship game since July 2013. The Deise are confident they’re a better team than last year, but it’s important they’re not as wasteful against the Cats as they were against Tipperary and Wexford.
“From a players perspective the pressure is still on because we want to go to an All-Ireland final. Losing a semi-final will be accepted as a poor year from a player’s perspective because at the end of the day you want to go up the steps in Croke Park in September.
“That’s what we’re training for so we’ll be going out against Kilkenny and we’ll be doing absolutely everything we can to get over the line and anything less will be seen as a failure for us.
“We’re going to have to be at the top of our game and there’s no room for error on Sunday. If I didn’t think we could win on Sunday I wouldn’t be playing. With the demands that are on inter-county players now it basically is 24/7 whether you’re training, you’re recovering or you’re stretching.
“You’re gone every night of the week but you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t believe you could get over the line and that’s the feeling certainly in the Waterford dressing room. We firmly believe that we can win on Sunday.”
Mahony and Galway footballer Damien Comer were in Croke Park at the announcement of EirGrid as the GAA’s first Official Timing Sponsor.
'I've had 6 months of hard training & I haven't missed a session since February'
WATERFORD’S PAURIC MAHONY can pinpoint the moment this season when he finally felt his form returning.
In May 2015 the Ballygunner forward suffered a horrific broken leg and he spent 10 months out of action before being slowly reintroduced into the Waterford team during the league.
But it wasn’t until the weeks leading up to the Munster semi-final against Clare did Mahony start to regain his confidence on the field.
“I think from the league final replay to the Munster championship, that was a big four or five weeks for me,” he said. “Playing games and training I felt very good but I was getting a couple of minutes in the league games and I was like, ‘It’s going to take me a long time to get back.’
“Sometimes it’s actually easier to start the game than come into it because every game has that first couple of minutes where everyone is trying to get up to the pace of things.
“Certainly those 5 weeks I felt a massive improvement in terms of fitness and getting up to the speed of games because there was plenty of games in amongst that period so it really helped.
“I’ve nearly 6 months of hard training now and I haven’t missed one session since back in February. Touch wood everything has gone to plan.”
It had been sunny skies for Waterford’s young team for most of 2016. Their league final replay loss to Clare appeared to be just a hiccup and they exacted revenge on the Banner in the championship just four weeks later.
Then the Munster final happened. Tipperary ran out 21-point victors, putting up 5-19 as Waterford had a disappearing act.
As bad as it was, Waterford turned things around and were never troubled by Wexford in the quarter-final, emerging as 10-point winners.
“It was said amongst the players, ‘we owe it to Derek [McGrath] to put in a performance,’ continued Mahony. “The Munster final was no reflection on the work he put in. The players, we let ourselves down on the field.
“It wasn’t any management decision, it was players underperforming. There was pressure on Derek’s back. He was going to be the one to bear the brunt of it if we were to lose against Wexford so we owed it to him.
“Thankfully we did get through it because the work he’s after putting in, and Dan, has been incredible over the last few years.”
Waterford reacted well to the adversity and went back to doing what they do best. The work-rate and defensive shape improved. They held Wexford to 11 points, and just seven from play.
It was a game that, as much as anything, solidified what this team are about. Mahony agrees with his manager’s estimation that it was the application of the game plan, rather than the system itself that let them down against Tipperary.
“I suppose we said that as players we didn’t follow the plan accordingly in the Munster final. That was one of the most disappointing things in the Munster final because we felt we did abandon it. Derek highlighted that himself after it.
“As a group we all buy into the way we play and we still 100 percent believe the way we play is the best way to move forward. At the end of the day if you’re winning games it’s great and it’s brushed aside but it is flagged then when you do have the big loss like the one we had against Tipperary.
“You’ll find flaws in any system on the back of a bad performance and it’s not something that bothers the players. We’re just interested in working hard and if we’re winning games at the end of the day we don’t really mind.”
There is no hiding now. There’s no easy way out against Kilkenny, who haven’t lost a championship game since July 2013. The Deise are confident they’re a better team than last year, but it’s important they’re not as wasteful against the Cats as they were against Tipperary and Wexford.
“From a players perspective the pressure is still on because we want to go to an All-Ireland final. Losing a semi-final will be accepted as a poor year from a player’s perspective because at the end of the day you want to go up the steps in Croke Park in September.
“That’s what we’re training for so we’ll be going out against Kilkenny and we’ll be doing absolutely everything we can to get over the line and anything less will be seen as a failure for us.
“We’re going to have to be at the top of our game and there’s no room for error on Sunday. If I didn’t think we could win on Sunday I wouldn’t be playing. With the demands that are on inter-county players now it basically is 24/7 whether you’re training, you’re recovering or you’re stretching.
“You’re gone every night of the week but you wouldn’t do it if you didn’t believe you could get over the line and that’s the feeling certainly in the Waterford dressing room. We firmly believe that we can win on Sunday.”
Mahony and Galway footballer Damien Comer were in Croke Park at the announcement of EirGrid as the GAA’s first Official Timing Sponsor.
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