In the best of hands

IT WAS a long road that led Peter Kirwan back to his starting point. As a youngster in Kill, near Kilmeaden in Waterford, his obsession with Australian Rules brought him to Cranbourne, a feeder club for AFL side Melbourne.

When the oval ball didn’t work out he qualified as a physical therapist, however, and after a stint in Bath, he ended up opening a clinic back in Kill.

Kirwan started helping out Mount Sion, and other GAA clubs in Waterford, Wexford, Cork and Kilkenny came calling, along with local rugby and soccer outfits. Then came the Waterford senior hurlers. The players didn’t just know him from the club scene. They trusted him because he knew what they needed.