Managers have worn convictions on their sleeves
DEREK McGRATH and Micheal Donoghue have walked quite extraordinary paths before coming face to face in this afternoon’s All-Ireland hurling final. For starters, both men took charge of Waterford and Galway respectively after players in both counties threw their arms up in the air in frustration and demanded change on the sideline.
To step into the shoes of a good man controversially ousted from his position takes courage.
It also demands a steely mindset and a degree of genuine self-belief that is regularly uncommon amongst the small group of men who get to manage county teams.
But McGrath and Donoghue have never taken a step back, and they have always worn their convictions on their sleeves. Both men knew to begin with that they had nowhere to hide, but neither has displayed the character of someone who would ever even think of choosing a hiding place.
The Galway manager’s greatest task of all has been affording Joe Canning, the prince of modern day hurling, some room on the field in which he can display his breathtaking array of skills and not have to spend most of his 70 minutes engaged in swatting away multiple opponents. And Donoghue and his team were suitably rewarded in the semifinal when Canning found barely enough space close to the sideline to launch the game-winning point over defending champions Tipperary.
His handling of Galway’s greatest score-getter has been Donoghue’s most demanding job of all, and one that has at different times led to the team boss being second-guessed and doubted by his own as well as hurling supporters throughout the country.
For Derek McGrath, the derision at every second turn he has made in recent years has been as constant as it has been forceful. The Waterford manager has been doubted, day in and day out, for building a sweeping system into his team which, once again, Waterford people, and hurling folk nationwide, have labelled as something which tears the heart and soul out of the old and beautiful game.
McGrath has never once apologised. Neither has he ever sought to defend himself or his stubborn belief that if Waterford were to have a genuine chance of becoming the No.1 hurling team in the country that they would have to shake off over half a century of playing it the accepted and traditional way.
This is a morning to congratulate both men, and whatever the final result some hours from now both McGrath and Donoghue can rightly be thanked.
Between them, Waterford and Galway hurling supporters have been waiting almost 90 years to see their teams lift the Liam MacCarthy Cup. One of these counties is going to have a day of unconfined joy which will spread its wings through the days and weeks to come. Of course, one county will also have to deal with an extra tough defeat.
With the more recent superpowers of the game of hurling — Kilkenny and Tipperary — removed from the All-Ireland stage the people of Waterford and Galway feel that they have an equal and legitimate right to celebrate with the ultimate title in the game.
One of those counties will have one special individual to thank.
The other, however, should be patient and fully accept that they still have a man leading their team who possesses very special qualities.
Both men knew that they had nowhere to hide