Moran: team spirit can stand to Déise

ASKED if it’s been easier this year, with no All-Ireland club commitments to distract him, Waterford’s Kevin Moran is swift to respond: “I wish we were going to February or March every year!”

“If you’re not hurling well, it’s down to yourself rather than playing into February or March with your club.

“Any lad would like to be playing with the club into the new year, but I’m enjoying every minute of this year — and last year as well.”

Moran and his De La Salle clubmates will have their domestic competition to focus on after Waterford are finished with the All-Ireland challenge. He’s hoping that will last another few weeks, particularly with Waterford’s cohesion this season.

“I think we’re all working on the same wavelength. The lads are emphasising that there are no individuals anymore. We’re building a team spirit over the last couple of years and we’re getting where we want to be.

“Defending is part of it — everyone does their bit. It doesn’t matter if it’s your man scoring as long as everyone’s working together on the same thing. You can see it’s helping and hopefully it will continue to work for us.”

Moran adds that other counties are learning from Kilkenny, particularly the Cats’ defensive alignment.

“They’re up there. If you’re going to take from someone, you have to take from Kilkenny, don’t you?

“They have four All-Irelands in a row. There are things in their game that everyone tries to bring into their own team to improve on.”

Winning the Munster final has given Waterford some extra time to work on and improve their game, but Moran says that alone won’t beat Tipperary.

“It’s all on the day nowadays. It’s good to get the break. You can prepare the way you want to prepare but it all comes down to the day — you don’t know what it’s going to be like on matchday, whether the break is a good or bad thing, whether it’s done us good or harm.”

Moran enjoyed a fine Fitzgibbon career in the WIT colours, crossing swords with some of Sunday’s opponents along the way.

“Yeah, I’d know a good few of them and played against a lot of them (in the Fitzgibbon Cup).

“That’s a totally different set-up, a different experience. The standard of hurling there is getting better and better, and that helped me, though it still took me a couple of years to get up to this level. The Fitzgibbon, and playing against top-quality players, certainly helped me. It was a benefit.”

Though he’s soldiered in nearly every line of the field, does Moran feel happy at wing-forward these days?

“Yeah, I do. Since I came on the scene, you could end up in the half back line or midfield or in the full forward line for a breather. Those previous years might have helped me — I’m comfortable in most places on the field. At the moment, I’m enjoying it.”

And enjoying the prospect of Croke Park. Mention the possibility of nerves and it’s dismissed immediately.

“Not at all, that’s all gone,” says Moran. “We’re well used to playing up there and there’s no fear going up. We’re well used to beating every team we play against so that couldn’t be used as an excuse and it never will be.”

Neither will the suggestion that Waterford are over-reliant on Moran’s clubmate John Mullane for scores from play.

“Everyone has different jobs to do, everyone knows from the last few years that if John gets the ball, he’s well able to score.

“We’re also able to take our own scores, but it’s not that we’re trying to just get our own three or four points a game. We’re working as a team.

“I don’t know if Stephen (Molumphy) got a point in the last two games but he was brilliant in those two games. It doesn’t matter who’s going well so long as the team is going well.”