Mullane unfazed by Sunday Game criticism

JOHN MULLANE has brushed aside the criticism he shipped on The Sunday Game for his fist-pumping antics during the drawn Munster semi-final between Waterford and Limerick a fortnight ago.

Pundits Michael Duignan and Peter Finnerty took exception to what they deemed to be excessive and unedifying displays of emotion by Mullane and team-mate Eoin Kelly.

But the De La Salle forward hasn’t taken offence.

“No, I wasn’t (taken aback),” he said at a Halifax GaelicPerformance coaching camp in Dublin yesterday. “I am not that type of fella. The analysts are there to do their job. They are entitled to their comments. I have no ill feeling towards them. Sometimes they give you great comments and other times they give you bad comments. That’s just the way they are.’’

Mullane met the criticism with humour and added with a laugh that: “To be fair to Michael and Pete, there wasn’t a whole lot to comment on the previous week’s game. It was probably the only highlight from a dour match.

“Myself and Eoin Kelly have no grievances with any of the analysts. They are only doing their job.”

This isn’t the first time that pundits have taken exception to players’ gestures in recent seasons in both codes

The goading of opponents after making scores or even tackles has increased significantly in recent years but Mullane’s demonstrations are far less sinister and seem to be aimed as much at colleagues as opponents.

“That’s my game and I have been doing it over the course of the last couple of years. I am not going to change my way about me now. I think other players are doing it too and the GAA needs a bit of that passion and sometimes it does lack in those areas. There are different characters in all sports. That’s just the way the game is.”

More emotive outbursts are all but guaranteed on July 12 at Semple Stadium when Waterford meet champions Tipperary in their fifth Munster decider in the current decade.

Though talked up as overwhelming favourites for the title all year, Tipperary have shown signs of vulnerability thus far against Cork last month and then Clare last weekend.

Mullane takes the point but responds by saying that: “Tipperary played some colossal hurling in the two of those games. They seem to be getting that bit of experience to see out the games that they weren’t doing in previous years.”

With Waterford requiring a replay to see off Limerick, both teams will be approaching the decider with near identical levels of preparedness, unlike in some years past.

That will stand to Waterford who improved considerably in the space of the week between their two fixtures but Mullane believes they still have some way to go if they are to claim a fourth provincial title in eight season.

“The games will help but, at the same time, we have massive improving to do. Let’s be honest, the two performances against Limerick won’t be good enough to compete against Tipperary on Munster final day.

“There was an improvement (last Saturday) but it couldn’t be much worse than the previous week really because the previous week was probably regarded as the worst Munster game ever.”