Jamie Barron isn’t a man for beating around the bush.
He knows the story. He cuts to the point and he has no problems about doing that.
Footballers in Waterford are the least favourite child. Waterford is a hurling county. Hurlers are treated better. This often comes at the expense of the footballers.
And it happens to be at both club and county level.
The Munster senior football final went ahead last weekend, with Nemo Rangers defeating Dr. Crokes. Last year Dr. Crokes overcame Barron’s club, the Nire, the 2016 Waterford senior football champions in that final.
OUT NOW – Alan Dillon on his brilliant career and wing forward play and Jamie Barron talks FOOTBALL for a change! https://t.co/rUcAcReQZT
— The GAA Hour (@TheGAAHour) November 30, 2017
This weekend, the Waterford senior football final will be contested between The Nire and Stradbally.
Yes, it’s as bad as it sounds. Last year’s finalists didn’t even get a chance to compete in Munster. They didn’t even get the opportunity to progress from their achievements of last year.
Whoever wins the county final on Sunday, that’s the end of it.
“There’s been no reason given, but we’d be seen as a hurling county. Ballygunner were probably seen as having a better chance of winning a Munster or an All-Ireland,” he says on Thursday’s GAA Hour Show.
It’s an awkward situation for Barron. It’s an awkward situation for Conor Gleeson. These two men are hurlers first and foremost. They were part of the Déise hurling team that made it to this year’s Liam MacCarthy decider – in turn pushing back club fixtures in the county.
While they were preparing for an All-Ireland final, their club football teammates were at home training, slogging – in limbo because they didn’t know when they’d have a game.
They couldn’t do anything about it.
“It is unfair on club players. Myself, Conor Gleeson and other county players are getting to play throughout the summer while the rest of the club players are training with no fixtures made or no end goals.
“Obviously if you win the county final, you want to go off and compete against the best clubs in Munster. Unfortunately this year, it hasn’t been that way for whoever wins it in Waterford,” said the 23-year-old.
When Waterford were beaten in that final, club hurling was the focus. That went ahead while football was put on the back burner.
“With the way the county hurling went this year, I think everything was kind of pushed back. The club hurling was given a bit of preference,” said the All-Star hurling midfielder.
Barron and his teammates know the inconvenience only too well, but they’re not moping about. They’re taking it as it is, making the best out of a bad situation.
“It’s a county final now, it’s irrelevant what time of the year it is. We’ll be out to win it,” he says.
Barron himself is missing out on Sunday’s showpiece through injury. This sickens him, but he’s predicting a feisty encounter between two sides that are very familiar with each other.
“Since 2000, we’ve (The Nire and Stadbally) competed in eight county finals. It’s probably a big rivalry. I think there’s a big turnover, especially in my own club – There’s a lot of fellas going into their first county final, but yeah, it’s great for the community at home as well. It’ll be a great game, there’s never too much between either side,” he added.
It is a shame, though. Even though the Waterford senior footballers are struggling in the pits of the league and in the Munster Championship, club football is always strong.
“It’s a very competitive championship. Whoever wins it is well able to compete in Munster,” says Barron.
The reason being – most of the best footballers in Waterford play hurling with the county, and with the dual dream dead, the footballers are losing out.
“If you look at the hurling panel. A lot of the players that are playing the hurling, they would be up there with the best footballers in the county, and that gives a worse reflection of the football,” says the man who hurls with Fourmilewater.
Is the perception set to change soon? Not unless some serious work is put into the county’s underage structures.
“If you look at the footballers over the last few years, they’ve been knocked out very early in the championship… you might be wondering, ‘Why am I bothering doing this at all?’ Hurling is seen as the better option in Waterford unless huge strides are made to build it back up,” he added.
It is a bad situation, though. The Nire played four games in the last two weeks before this final. Players have picked up injuries – even though Barron picked up his in the first of the four games.
“At times, you’re just going to have to deal with the lunacy of it all,” he says.
Maybe they shouldn’t have to.
The CPA have started something good. There’s a lot to work on.
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