Irish Daily Star - Inside Sport
Very ambitious and very driven ...but Davy has mellowed. I just couldn’t say no
Queally thrIlleD to answer DeIse’s call
‘I didn’t have to put a whole pile of thought into it, maybe just a phone call to the wife to get the green light’
PETER QUEALLY didn’t even have to think about it.
There was a bit of deja vu late last summer when he was approached by Davy Fitzgerald, asking him to form part of his management team in Waterford, just over 14 years after he’d joined the Clare man on his first managerial stint at inter-county level.
Waterford reached an All-Ireland semi-final at least over the four seasons that Fitzgerald was there, a first final in 45 years and won what remains their last Munster title in 2010.
It was obvious that, despite last year’s disappointing Championship showing, Waterford retained a side that was capable of going places under him again.
And Queally wanted to be part of it. “It was easy for me, once Davy rang and asked me to become part of the set-up,” he says.
Quality
“I was a spectator at a lot of the games the last two years. I saw the talent that is there, the quality that is in this team.
“When you get someone of Davy’s experience asking would you like to become involved, it was a no-brainer.
“I didn’t have to put a whole pile of thought into it, maybe just a phone call to the wife to get the green light.
“I know from working with Davy previously, I was going to learn a lot from him.
“And with the experience he has gained in the last 15 years, that has come to be true. I am learning a lot from Davy and I am enjoying it.”
Tomorrow, Fitzgerald starts his 15th Championship campaign as an inter-county boss having won every major honour in the game — League, Leinster, Munster and AllIreland titles, the only manager in the history of hurling to have achieved that.
So how does the current version of Davy compare with that which was dropped into management just after his playing days had ended 15 years ago?
“Calmer,” says Queally. “He has gained a lot of experience in that time period. A lot
of success. The very intense hurling Davy has mellowed. While he is still very driven and passionate he is not, how will I put it, as intense as he was 15 years ago.
Matter
“He’s very driven. Very ambitious. As he says to the lads, no matter what he plays, whether it’s cards with the mother, he wants to win. That’s the bottom line.”
Fitzgerald has been one of the pioneers in terms of tackling tactical conventions in hurling and the manner in which he sends his teams out to play is always a divisive issue. It surfaced quickly in Waterford too during the recent League campaign.
“It will divide opinion, there is no doubt about that,” concedes Queally. “And I’m sure when he started out with Wexford it would have divided opinion.
“But when they won the Leinster final, I’m not sure the same opinion would have been there.”
Of particular interest as they face the daunting challenge of All-Ireland champions Limerick tomorrow will be how key forward
Dessie Hutchinson is employed, with the amount of time that he has spent away from the opposition goal this year a bone of contention.
Implement
“I’d say he could end up fullback the next day,” laughs Queally. “Look, when you’re trying to implement a new style, we’re building from the back and trying to get things right there.
“There’s a little bit of tweaking to do in terms of getting all the forwards involved. That will come. The pitches will get better.
“Dessie is a key player for us, he’s integral to what we do. It would be silly of us to not supply the ball into him. That’s part of the work in progress to get all the components right.”
Fitzgerald cautioned after Waterford’s last League game against Kilkenny about how this particular project may be a longer-term one and that patience would be needed, with Queally acknowledging that “while we all crave success instantly, this might take a year or two”.
And yet, having been part of the team that delivered Waterford’s first Munster title in 39 years in 2002 and achieved a number of other landmarks in his spell working under Fitzgerald, Queally still visualises them going all the way and bridging the gap to 1959.
“Definitely we dream. We’re all jealous of Limerick,” he admits. “We saw the success that they have had and what’s it meant to the county and the supporters so there is a longing there to taste that.
“I won’t lie to you, when Davy rang part of the reason (I said yes) was, yeah, this team can do it and it would be brilliant to be part of it. You’re not going to turn up a chance at that.
“On the one hand, you’re accepting a role of getting involved; on the other, it’s because you’re dreaming of that glory as well.”