‘It’s about trying to defend our title’

with John Henderson IF Sunday is to be John Henderson’s last act as Bray Emmets manager, then there is no better way to bow out than with a third consecutive championship victory.

The Kilkenny legend’s term is up with the Old Conna club and he must now await their decision on his future. Victory on Sunday would be a decent bargaining chip.

Carnew stand between Emmets and the three-in-a-row but Henderson cares little for talk of three, four or five in-a-row. He only has eyes for Sunday.

“People always want to frame things. That’s just the reality of sport. There always has to be a number – next year it’ll be four, last year it was two so it’s just a number. For us, Sunday is a process and it’s about first of all getting to the final and now it’s about trying to defend our title. Whatever number that leaves us on at the end of the day, well that’s where we are.”

As the dominant force in the county, the threat of complacency must be lingering. Participating in a championship final means that no motivation is required amongst his young squad of players who make his task infinitely easier.

“Every squad has players who are easily motivated and players who need to be motivated. They’re a good bunch of lads. Generally they’re a young bunch of lads and like everything, that presents its own challenges. They have a huge appetite for hurling and they love the game and that’s why the play it. Sunday is the occasion that we all want to be involved in. If you get involved at all then you want to be involved in the final and you want to be part of the big day and you want that day to be as big and spectacular as possible.

“I think the longer you’re with a squad, the harder it gets. We started out three years ago and it was all new but after three years, people have heard a lot of what I have to say. It’s a different challenge and each year presents a different challenge but I think they’re a great bunch of lads and whatever Sunday brings, what they’ve done to date means I’ll always be immensely proud of them and I hope that they have an appetite to keep going.”

Whether Henderson will be around to monitor that appetite is still unclear. He has monitored Carnew closely this season though and has seen vast improvements from them. He now wants his generals on the field to take everything they have learned over the last three years and put it into practice.

“When we took over, we took over for three years so the club will be reviewing that now, not me.

“We had to play someone and Carnew are there on merit. We know we have a huge job to do on Sunday. They beat us early on in the league and they brought us down to earth with a bang. They’ve shown the progress they’ve made under Casey (O’Brien) and showed the attitude and what it means to them. They’ve made changes and they’re doing things to ensure that they bring the cham- pionship home to Carnew on Sunday.

“You adapt to what you’re playing against and you adapt on the field. You always have to evolve. Generally, what you want is 15, 16, 20 fellas who will go onto the pitch and think their way through the match. That is the best course to win; that’s what I’ll hope for on Sunday – they’ll be leaders on the pitch, they’ll see what needs to be done and they’ll do it.”

As a Kilkenny man, Henderson knows all about the danger of being too successful.

His county’s sheer dominance of recent years saw many neutrals hoping for a fall having grown sick of the Black Cats lifting Liam every year. Henderson worries little if the rest of Co. Wicklow feel the same about his side and he’s confident they’d cope with defeat should it occur.

“It doesn’t bother me in the least what other people want. My view is purely focussed on what is best for Bray and what Bray can achieve. All I want is a fair crack of the whip and that if we’re beaten, we’re beaten by the better side on the day.

“It’s part of the process that we’d be trying to get players to adapt and it’s not just about winning and losing, it’s about becoming a person that can carry success and defeat in equal measure. We’d hope that some of the things that we’re teaching them and some of the qualities they have will carry them and stand them in good stead in life. This is just a hurling match. It won’t be a major trauma, we’ve come across more serious trauma this year alone. We have to keep perspective but having said that we are very, very keen not to lose.”

Bray Emmets could become victims of their own success on Sunday. With their senior and intermediate hurling sides both contesting finals, the usual practice of sharing players is off the table.

“The intermediates playing beforehand doesn’t help our cause. It’s a difficult one for us to plan. We have to put the club first and put our best foot forward on behalf of the club. We’ve been basically the one squad all year. The squads are very close to each other, there is very little demarcation. We’re all the one. But now we have to navigate two teams on Sunday and some of the players that we could/should have called upon will be tied up.”

It could go down as one of the best days in Bray Emmets’ history. It could be one of the worst. Only time will tell.