Cullinane: Déise fault lines repaired in time for Offaly test

Waterford selector Seán Cullinane believes they have recovered from their Munster championship exit and repaired the fault lines in time for Saturday’s preliminary round qualifier with Offaly.

The former inter-county full-back acknowledges morale dipped in the camp as that eight-point defeat to Clare sunk in. Lifting the spirits comes high on the priority list ahead of this weekend.

“Mentally, it’s about turning them around and getting them in a positive frame of mind. They were down but I suppose everyone was down, including the supporters and the selectors. “It was hard to put your finger on it. They hurled so well for 45-odd minutes, it’s hard to understand what happened in the last 25 minutes.

“Everyone was down but in fairness everyone has worked hard in the last few weeks and everyone seems to be a lot sharper going into Saturday evening.”

Untidy shooting resulted in 15 wides against Clare and that’s another issue they have pinpointed.

“Our finishing is one aspect that we have worked on. We had a lot of wides, we created the chances but we didn’t take them.”

For club and county, Jake Dillon is the forward in form at the moment. Cullinane seeks a collective effort to see them through to the next round. “Jake got 1-2 the last day and he’s playing very well. To beat any team at this level, you must have five or six of your forwards playing well and you need that every day. We need everyone firing on all cylinders, particularly in the forward line. We definitely need to improve in that area from the last game.”

Cullinane noted Offaly’s appetite for green flags as they rattled the All-Ireland champions in the Leinster quarter-final. “Any team that gets four goals against Kilkenny is doing something right. Kilkenny don’t concede goals that easily and for a team to get four goals against them is a lot. The manner of some of them was a bit soft and they got a couple at the end but that’s besides the point.”

He expects a ferocious battle in the air and on the ground. “We know what they are going to be like. They are going to be physical, they are going to be big and they are going to be hoping the rucks develop and that they come out on top on that end. It’s up to us to counteract that.”

The twin threat of Shane Dooley and Joe Bergin will force Cullinane and the rest of the management team to ponder their defensive match-ups. “They are big men and they are going to target them with the high ball. If they don’t win the primary ball, they are going to be working on getting the second ball so we are going to have to be ready for that.”