McGrath ‘key man’ in De La Salle run
The city club are 60 minutes away from a third title in five years and Mullane says new manager Derek McGrath has been the key ingredient this year.
“We’d have heard a lot about him and the success he had with the school [De La Salle] at Harty and All-Ireland colleges level.
“The one thing we kept hearing about was his professionalism with the school, and he’s brought that in to us as well.”
McGrath was on the panel when De La Salle won their previous county titles in 2008 and 2010 but was a manager long before that.
“He was part of the selection in 2008 and 2010 when we won the county title,” said Mullane.
“He got injured the week of the 2008 final. A lot of us would know him a long time and would have had huge respect for him.”
McGrath has focused on raising standards in one particular area, and Mullane says De La Salle are enjoying the benefits of that focus.
“He’s certainly improved discipline,” said the Waterford icon. “If you look back at some previous years you’d have to say our discipline left us down the odd time and that was one thing we wanted to get to grips with.
“I’d like to think that we’ve improved in that area ourselves now this year and that we’re seeing the benefits of what he’s brought to us.”
De La Salle have been fancied in the South-East all season, particularly when the cognoscenti saw an addition to their side.
“We started off the year with Jack Kennedy coming in to us from Ballyduff, and when he joined us we were immediately installed as favourites for the championship, the team to beat.
“That probably brought a bit of pressure and a lot of teams were out to get us, which isn’t surprising. We were beaten by Fourmilewater in the league, though we came through the group stages well.”
The challenges then began in earnest.
“We only came out of the Lismore game by the skin of our teeth — we won by a point — because big Dan [Shanahan] was on fire the same night. We were lucky.
“The Mount Sion game in the semi-final was always going to be a dogfight and we were lucky enough to win by four points.
“We’re in the final not having played to our full potential. We probably haven’t played as well as we can, but we’re still there.”
Waiting for them are Dungarvan, who will put out the youngest side ever to contest a Waterford county senior final.
“I’d compare Dungarvan to us in 2005, when we first made it to a county final,” said Mullane.
“Sunday’s a very dangerous game for us. Dungarvan are fast, well able to hurl, and we’re under no illusions. We know we’ll have to play to the top of our game to have any chance.”
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