Derek McGrath isn’t ashamed of feeling pressure.
The Waterford manager has had to face up to criticism from all corners of the island after a 21-point Munster final defeat at the hands of Tipperary but he’s had to face more within his own county.
That comes with the territory. A Waterford man taking a Waterford team, he lives and breathes the hopes and expectations every day. The pressure.
On Sunday, the Deise head to Croke Park and, in their way of an All-Ireland final stands Kilkenny. It doesn’t get any easier for McGrath who has just recently returned from a retreat to Mount Melleray Abbey. Presumably turning to God for help this weekend.
“You’d turn to anything you can to help with Kilkenny,” he joked on SportsJOE’s GAA Hour hurling podcast.
The boss has fronted up and admits that he couldn’t control his emotions after the Tipperary defeat. But he also thinks that there’s nothing wrong with that.
“It’s a scenario whereby you’re coaching in your own county and the pressure that goes with that is a pressure that you know is coming and the scrutiny that comes with it,” McGrath told Colm Parkinson in a brutally honest interview.
“I don’t think you’re soft when you admit that you’re feeling the pressure because you want your team to do well and you’re putting a huge amount of time into it and, when it goes as badly as it did in the Munster final, it’s very hard not to show your absolute disconsolate side.
“That impression that people are stone-cold assassins and you’re supposed to portray the right image for your players, I lost sight of that I suppose because I was feeling it.
“When you’re managing your own county, it’s not coming in at five ’til seven and hanging up your coat before a seven o’clock training session. It’s different. You feel it. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being extremely upset over how badly we played.”
Henry Shefflin was one pundit who didn’t hold back in his criticism for these hurling teams playing with sweepers and ‘overthinking’ the game.
“We’re coming from different mindsets,” McGrath said. “Henry has 10 All-Ireland medals and he has a wealth of experience in the game. I played two championship games with Waterford, I played three years at minors and I wouldn’t have the same depth of experience. Plus, the machine that is Kilkenny is up and running a long time.
“I just put the hard work into preparing our team as best I can but I was definitely a case of guns at the ready and loaded for when it happened.
“At no stage do we think we’ve written the rule book on hurling but I’d point to the 2011 All-Ireland final when Brian Hogan parked himself on the D for the whole game. The perception is then that it’s hard work from Kilkenny whereas when we do it, it’s a ‘tactical masterplan.’
“The is whole argument that it’s not in someone’s DNA to play like this… listen, we haven’t beaten Kilkenny in the championship since 1959. We haven’t won an All-Ireland since 1959. We’ve lost two matches in the last two years in the championship, to Kilkenny and Tipperary – albeit, the Tipperary one was a debacle, I can’t argue with that.
“In time I think when our killers are developed – our killer forwards – Waterford will be freer in terms of the threat they offer.”
Listen to the full Derek McGrath interview (7:48) on The GAA Hour hurling podcast. Subscribe here on iTunes.
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