DEREK: STOP HURLING SO MUCH ABUSE
DEREK MCGRATH believes criticism of GAA managers will keep getting worse.
The Waterford boss is enjoying the build-up to today’s All-ireland final against Galway but at times he has been pummelled by criticism during his four year tenure and he said: “The whole feeling is with the social media, that things are going to get worse.
“Mistakes will be made and they are entitled to be constructively criticised. But personalised criticism is just not right, and I’ll stand over that.”
THEY could have been contenders.
Derek Mcgrath and Micheal Donoghue, two managers who meet today under the brightest spotlight, seeking the fulfilment they were denied as players.
Both were promising young hurlers – Mcgrath in particular – and actually marked each other in the 1992 All-ireland minor final.
But in both cases back injuries ruined their chances of making it on the senior stage.
Mcgrath played just two senior Championship games, against Tipperary in 1996 and Galway in 1998.
Former Waterford All-star Jim Greene, manager of that Deise minor side in 1992, picked Mcgrath to play when he was still a pup.
Greene said: “We picked Derek at centreforward against Clare in the Munster Championship at 15 years of age. Between that game and the Munster final he turned 16. I remember being questioned on the radio at the time about how young he was.
“I said to them, ‘He’s good enough, so he’s old enough’. That was definitely the case, he was a really excellent player. He got a back injury then which dented his chances. It never left him alone which was an awful pity because he was a great young player.
“He still played a lot of good club hurling. He was on and off the county team but was never the same after that injury.”
Donoghue has a similar tale to tell. He won a National League with Galway in 1996 and played in an All-ireland semi-final defeat to Wexford that year but was limited by back troubles too.
Like Mcgrath, he played out his days at club level and captained Clarinbridge to their first county title in 2001.
But his true calling was coaching and 10 years after that county win led Clarinbridge to All-ireland club success, beating Mcgrath’s club De La Salle in the semis.
Now destiny has thrown the two men together again, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.