‘Ruthless’ Waterford can be champions

THE Waterford hurlers received a vote of confidence from an unlikely scource over the weekend. Despite their inconsistent League form, former Clare manager Ger Loughnane feels they are ready for the breakthrough and are well capable of winning the All-Ireland this year.

However, he had words of caution, bluntly telling them to forget what they achieved last season and to become more ruthless on the field.

"You froze last year against a very poor Clare team," said Loughnane. "That's natural, that can happen. It can happen from over-confidence or underrating the opposition. The next time you get there, there's one word you should think of and that is absolute ruthlessness. When you get on that field, in order to win you must be ruthless even though you can be the nicest person off the field. When I look at Waterford, I see what is lacking - that ruthlessness to get to the top.