Leading from the front
THE 21st century has been good to Eoin Kelly. Two Munster championship medals and an Allstar award in his 2002 debut season, and now the wing-forward wears the captain’s armband for 2005, a season Waterford approach as Munster champions.
It’s not all about loading the mantelpiece with silverware, however. Two seasons ago, that Allstar statuette was a millstone.
“The year after I won the Allstar I had a bad season. Sometimes in games I felt that because I was an Allstar that things were going to happen for me.
“I actually sat down with Paul Flynn and said, ‘Flynner, what’s going on?’, and he said ‘You’re waiting, you’re waiting for balls and you have to go for them. It’s in your head that every ball is going to come to you, and it’s not.’ He was a big help to me, because before that chat my attitude was ‘Who’s this fella marking me?’
“Last season, I had to go back to what I was doing in 2002 - working harder, training harder. I still enjoyed getting the Allstar, and I wouldn’t mind another one, so long as a few more of the lads got one as well.”
Then how come he wasn’t on the panel early last season? “I’d played in a couple of last year’s league games but there was a 21st party on - one of my friends - and I had two or three jars. Of course, it was a hundred jars by the time the story got out.
“I was dropped off the panel then and the phrase used was ‘burning the candle at both ends’. I think I was the last person to find out I was dropped off the panel, which annoyed me, and because I’m stubborn I didn’t want to back down. Justin (McCarthy) gave me a chance, though he said I’d have to prove myself.”
Kelly played in a charity match and scored 2-11; point proven. He’s glad of his coach’s understanding (“I’ve a good relationship with Justin, but it’s the same for all the players, he’s a great manager.”) but when it comes to people’s enthusiasm for furthering stories he shakes his head.
“I don’t care, Justin knows the score, but you’d think people have nothing better to do than make up stories. I’m gone to Dungarvan this evening at quarter-past six for training and I’m not back ’til nearly 11, but nobody wants to make up stories about that, of course.”
It hurt being off the panel, but Kelly’s family helped him through the bad times - “They’ve given everything to help me” - and others were equally supportive: “The likes of Flynner, Tony (Browne) and (Dan) Shanahan were all very good to me when I was off the panel.
“I don’t think people understand. You miss out on things. I’m only 22, and a lot of my friends are having 21sts and that. I don’t mind missing out. You can only play top inter-county hurling now for five or six years anyway - the days of playing ten or 15 years are gone, the fitness demands are so high.
“With Mount Sion we went through from last January 12 months to last November, so I took December off to relax. After that length of time you’d get sick of hurling, anyone would, and anyone who says they don’t is lying.”
For all the protests, even in the off-season, hurling - or hurlers, at any rate - isn’t very far away.
“I played premier soccer for Hibs when I was 16, but now I’m playing for St Joseph’s - myself, John Mullane, Eoin McGrath, Brian Phelan and Ian O’Regan are on the same team, so we have good crack.”
He didn’t do much else over the winter, but a man who doesn’t put on weight doesn’t need to do much.
“I wouldn’t be mad about gym work - I like the running, but I think heavy gym work slows me down. A few of the lads are well into it, though, and you can see the effect it has - John Mullane is very strong after doing weights - but in 2003 I did a lot of weights and I felt it tied me up, that I slowed down a lot.”
After an unhappy 2003, last year was a good deal more rewarding, particularly the epic Munster final against Cork -“After that game it was more shock than anything - even though the Kilkenny game brought the cavalcade to a sudden stop. Still, if the arrival was unhappy, the journey was an enjoyable one. Demolishing Clare and edging out Tipp and Cork in three consecutive games showed a fair recovery from the league final collapse against Galway.
“We didn’t do ourselves justice in that league final. We were so bad that day that everyone thought we’d gone backwards, and that hurt us so much it put the bit between our teeth for the Clare game. Everyone wrote us off, and to come out and do what we did to Clare ... that was a once-off result. Clare aren’t that bad, they had an off-day, but it was still very satisfying. We were written off and it was good to show what we could do.
“Justin has given us self-belief. We got into a run of form of winning big games, particularly tight games like the one in Cork against Tipperary.”
The Cork man’s famous attention to detail also applies in individual tutorials. “One-to-one, he advises players very well - for example, he tells me to vary my game, to keep moving, and that’s helped a lot. In the league game against Laois, he told me to move across the line more and I picked up two points.
“He takes away our hurleys as well, even though sometimes you’d be happy enough with your hurley as it is. He’ll take it away, lighten it, shave it down to make it easier to pick the ball. He’s a great man for the details.”
Kelly is generous about his opponents: Sean Óg Ó hAilpin is a “super hurler” as is Ronan Curran. Paul Kelly? “A good hurler as well, but different - you might get a couple of points off him but he could get a few himself.” JJ Delaney? “Awesome hand for catching the ball and a nice fella.”
That generosity co-exists with a healthy appetite for success, however.
“We want to win the All-Ireland, whether it’s through the front door or back door, we don’t care. People from Kilkenny or Cork say they’d love to see Waterford win an All-Ireland but that’s crap, that’s just plamás.
“Take Clare. It was the greatest thing ever when they won their first All-Ireland, but a lot of people didn’t like them by the time they won their second. They’d probably end up hating us as well if we won, but I wouldn’t care if I had an All-Ireland medal.
“A lot of people don’t want change, they want Cork and Kilkenny in the All-Ireland all the time, but I won’t be upset in the least if those people are unhappy because we win the All-Ireland. We’re close, I know that, but only time will tell.”
And he’ll lead them this season. Kelly, selected on the 40 for tomorrow’s League clash with Dublin, points out that personnel and lifestyle changes should improve their chances. Fergal Hartley is back. John Mullane has forsaken shift work for an apprenticeship and Dan Shanahan is on day work. Kelly himself is looking for work that’s more training-friendly, as befits a skipper.
“Being the captain has changed my attitude. It’s a nice responsibility to lead so many great players - I don’t want to leave them down, I don’t want to leave myself or my family down. I don’t say much in the dressing room, I talk a bit more on the field alright, but I haven’t changed that much. I still sit down the back of the bus having the crack with the likes of Shanahan, Mullane, Ken, Hartley and Flynner.”
On May 22, that bus will turn into Thurles for a date with Cork, the latest in a latter-day series of seismic clashes. Kelly talks up the intervening league games, but doesn’t hide his enjoyment of the championship build-up - the banter, the buzz, the fans around town wearing the colours.
“I know that puts pressure on some fellas but I take it the opposite way, I take it as a boost - all these people are coming to see us play. It’s better to see them in Waterford jerseys than tops with Beckham or Rooney on the back.
“The sun beating down in Thurles, the place packed, you’re up against Cork in the championship? They’re the days you start playing hurling for.”
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