New year’s resolutions and all that.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the Waterford hurlers will be chasing after and setting as their number one goal in 2023.
Since the Munster championship switched over to a round robin format in 2018 – which was replaced with a traditional knock-out structure for the Covid-19 affected 2020 and 2021 seasons – no county has performed worse than them.
Clare, perhaps surprisingly, have collected the most points from the dozen group games each county has played in that period; an impressive 17. Limerick are next on 16 with Cork on 14, Tipperary on 10 and Waterford, well, to use Larry Gogan parlance, the questions asked of them within the group format just don’t seem to have suited them. Three measly points is all they have amassed.
That stat is bordering on the bizarre because since 2015 they’ve contested more National League finals than anyone else, four, are reigning champions and appear to enjoy the format.
“I suppose there’s a lot of people in the panel and around the county that can’t really wrap their heads around what happened last year,” said Waterford’s Carthach Daly of how they went from winning the league to bombing out in Munster.
“It wasn’t as if we weren’t playing well in the championship, we beat Tipperary and put it up to Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds. We were within three points of them. We just didn’t show up against Cork and that kind of ruined our confidence I felt.
“Hopefully next year will be our year, the round robin just hasn’t really happened for Waterford in the last few years but hopefully next year it will happen, and I’d be confident it will as well.”
Given that win over Tipp in round one of last season’s Munster championship, and the relatively good form against Limerick, it seems simplistic to suggest Waterford have some sort of mental block with Munster.
“Every game you play is not meant to be easy,” shrugged Daly at the launch of the 2023 Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League which begins for Waterford next Tuesday evening against Tipperary in Dungarvan.
That’s true too though more is expected of Waterford. When they beat Tipp last April, a fortnight after winning the league, they were talked up as credible All-Ireland contenders.
Daly’s diminishing fortunes mirrored that of the team as he was terrific at midfield in the league final but struggled with a stress fracture in his ankle for the rest of the summer. He’s only getting it right now.
“I went to Boston and played with Fr Tom’s after the championship and made it way worse,” said Daly who was horrified at what scans then revealed.
“If you look at the scan, there was half a crack going down my ankle. If it was another bit down, it would actually have been broken. Daly’s brother, Waterford colleague Iarlaith, suffered a bad ankle injury last spring too.
“But I wouldn’t be blaming any injuries for not performing in the summer,” said Carthach.
“We beat Tipp the first day, then the second day we were within touching distance of Limerick but against Cork we just didn’t show up. When you don’t show up in the round robin in Munster, any team is going to punish you. After that we were always under pressure and fighting a lonely battle.”
News of Davy Fitzgerald’s return for a second spell has brought fresh energy to the group.
“I think there’s seven or eight new young lads after coming into the panel,” said Daly who was in primary school when Fitzgerald’s previous tenure began in 2008.
“I remember going up to the 2010 Munster final, I think it was Eoin Kelly and Tony Browne that got the goals because they were six points down. It went to a replay and then extra-time the second day and Dan [Shanahan] got a goal and we won it. That’s my big memory from when he was there but playing under him now is totally different, I’m really looking forward to it.”
A busy few weeks await the Daly brothers. Carthach also has Fitzgibbon Cup commitments with Mary I while Iarlaith is studying at UCC and will line out for them.
“It’s obviously going to be tough,” he acknowledged. “Iarlaith actually played last year in a college game on the Friday, UCC play Cork every year in the Canon Hamilton, and then he played Clare with Waterford on the Saturday.
“When you’re playing with your college and your county, it is hard but you just have to get through it and control what you can control.”
