The Irish Mail on Sunday

Hardest thing in a final is playing to full ability

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AUNIQUE All-Ireland hurling final pairing, one that offers both sets of players a chance to realise their dreams. The sense of expectatio­n and excitement is heightened with no member of either panel having a Celtic Cross to their name.

Whoever wins ends a massive famine for the county. Galway have to go back to the double of 1987-88, Waterford must rewind further to 1959. The outpouring of emotion at the final whistle will be incredible.

I’m coming from a county that has won four All-Irelands in total, in a 17-year period from 1981 to ’98. I’ve been privileged enough to experience what it means to a county, to a people. The lift it gives, the pride it generates. I’d go so far as to say it adds something to the character of the people.

For the winners, it will generate a treasure trove of memories. I’ll never forget the morning after the 1998 final banquet. I don’t know how it happened – Hubert Rigney was captain – but the Liam MacCarthy Cup was in my room the when I woke up. I can still vividly recall the childish excitement that I felt. ‘Is this really here?’ I found myself wondering. The whole scene had the sense of a dream. It was a private moment that only Edel and myself shared – one that will never leave me.

It was special, particular­ly after my two previous final experience­s. In 1994, I badly damaged my ankle in a Leinster final and aggravated the same injury in the semi-final. I missed the cut for the final so it didn’t quite mean the same.

In 1995, there was massive hype going in against Clare, the same thing that the Waterford and Galway players will be experienci­ng this week. Getting ahead of yourself can be the most dangerous thing you can do. We simply weren’t ready for the Clare crowd – the roar, the passion, the hunger. You had manager Ger Loughnane declaring at half-time that they were going to win. They had to overcome 80-odd years of a famine – it was an amazing mental performanc­e from them to be able to deal with the whole occasion so well, especially as we had won the previous year and had the experience of defending champions.

That’s why the build-up is so important in terms of getting play- ers’ heads right. Playing to your ability on the biggest days – that is the hardest thing to do. If you go from 3.30 to five o’clock and the game passes you by, you’re left with a world of regret.

There are plenty of pitfalls in the run up. Anyone who is on to a player about tickets is doing them a disservice. Every phonecall you get is just another tiny distractio­n. I saw it myself in the build-up to the final with favours being called in and trying to look after lads.

It means players being mentally tough. The history of Waterford hurling, the hype is going to be bigger there. It’s the nature of the beast. You can’t go into hiding so you have to embrace it to an extent.

Being there before in 2012 and 2015 does give Galway a slight advantage in that respect. And it will help their psyche that they are not playing Kilkenny or Tipperary, who have dominated the game in recent years. No disrespect to Galway but the pressure of not winning for so long, it’s always been there.

But Waterford will be confident for exactly the same reason that Kilkenny or Tipperary aren’t involved.

Waterford’s more senior players were there in 2008 – ‘Brick’ Walsh and Kevin Moran along with selector Eoin Murphy. That Derek McGrath’s team has come the back door route to the final doesn’t diminish their achievemen­t. That’s the system.

Ironically, Offaly fought against its introducti­on, then were the first team to win the All-Ireland that way in ’98. Typical Offaly, you might say.

Brendan Ward and Christy Todd made the point at the time that we’re a small county, we don’t want the likes of traditiona­l giants Kilkenny getting a second chance.

Everybody acknowledg­es that day is gone. There’s a desire for more matches, not knock-out. At the homecoming in 1998, I was interviewe­d live on the nine o’clock news. I was asked about the back door and I quoted a line that Simon Lyons, a great local character, had said to me, “front door, side door, back door, trap door – it doesn’t matter”. Words to that effect. That still holds true. If Waterford win next Sunday, the nature of their journey to the final will be irrelevant and victory will be utterly deserved.

If the game passes you by, you’re left with a world of regret

 ??  ?? RELEASE: Waterford boss Derek McGrath and Shane Bennettt celebrate after beating Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final
RELEASE: Waterford boss Derek McGrath and Shane Bennettt celebrate after beating Cork in the All-Ireland semi-final

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