McGrath buoyed by Déise renaissance

JIM McGRATH knows all about the dog days of Waterford football.

He played 13 seasons for the county, from 1978 to 1990, and never had much to celebrate. The Brickey Rangers man was a selector with John Kiely when the Déise won their second All-Ireland JFC title in 2004 – the first having come five years earlier – but those were rare highlights.

Now he’s back on selection duties and the sky seems impossibly bright.

Waterford football is suddenly a hot topic of conversation ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Croke Park, with a National League title up for grabs.

The county has been a laughing stock for many for their exploits – or lack of them – with the big ball, but the frustrating thing was that the standard at club level was always high, with the senior champions competitive at provincial level.

“There’ve been big changes” admits McGrath. “We were always playing Division 2B or Division 4, it was always the bottom tier. I’m there a long time trying to get up a division and it’s great to have done it.

“Club football in Waterford is as good as any county in the country. Stradbally, The Nire, Ballinacourty are all very strong and between them deserved to win at least one Munster title in the last 10 years. They were very close.

“The players were always there but you have to have the commitment, the right man in charge and a bit of luck as well and all of that has come into place.”

Current Cork hurling boss, Denis Walsh, introduced a greater degree of professionalism to the set-up he says, and then John Kiely took up the baton.

But it is John Owens that has taken them over the line.

“Jackson (Kiely) got them going and all they needed was that extra push. John Owens has brought a freshness, because no matter how good a man is, players get tired listening to the same voice for four or five years. John is a new man and a new voice and he’s brought them on that bit.”

McGrath wasn’t keen to take up a selector’s role this year due to the involvement of his son Conor, who like his father plays in the attack.

“I wasn’t really anxious to do it but John Owens was struggling for selectors. I said I wouldn’t see him stuck but I didn’t really mean that I’d come in” he laughs.

The team has improved rapidly in the last month or so, with victories recorded over Limerick, Wicklow and Clare confirming that their status as Division 4 table-toppers was deserved. The reward was promotion and a trip to Croke Park, but it’s the former that is most dear to McGrath.

“We want to win every game but for me – and this mightn’t be the case for the players or the other selectors – this final is a bonus. When you come up a division for the first time since the 70s, everything is a bonus I think.

“Saying that, playing in Croke Park will be the pinnacle of most of the players’ careers. The likes of Liamo (Liam O Lionáin) and the Gormans (Maurice and Thomas) have played Railway Cup but for the rest, it’s something they’ve never experienced before and they must make the most of it. Limerick were missing Johnny McCarthy, (John) Galvin, (Stephen) Lucey and Ian Ryan, who have all played for Munster when we beat them by a point the last day out. Now Galvin and Ryan are back. But then we hadn’t Gary Hurney that time and he’s a huge boost to us because he’s a natural footballer.

“So that might even out. Limerick are a good team but we’ll be giving it our best shot. If you stick at it long enough the wheel always turns. It might have taken a bit longer for Waterford but it’s turning now.”