Harbouring two loves

MUNSTER CLUB IHC QUARTER-FINAL:

The hurling titles have started to slowly amass in recent years, but the club’s outstanding achievement still stands as the county football wins in 1965 and 1977. Hurling boss Nick Keating explains almost everyone on his panel of 24 doubles up with the club’s football team.

“A lot of players are caught between the different sports,” he notes. “You have lads playing football and then there is rugby as well.”

Rugby? “No, you heard correct,” he responds.

Nick’s son Seamus, on the top of the County intermediate title annexed earlier this month, holds Harty and Croke Cup medals with Dungarvan Colleges. Though recognised as a “pretty decent lad with a hurl in his hand”, his pedigree lies elsewhere.

The 19-year-old winger, came through the underage ranks at Munster and is currently plying his trade with Cork Con. And while a decision will inevitably have to be made, for now, Seamus is happy to enjoy both worlds.

“He would have played U18s and U19s with Munster and has just finished with the U20s this year,” continued Nick. “He is a lad, coming from a small community where you need all the players you have, who played International Rugby at 18 for the Irish Youths.

“The pair of us sat down on Thursday evening to watch the county final and I didn’t realise until watching the video that Seamus had been interviewed by Óisín Langan from Newstalk after the game. One point he did make to Óisín was from a physical perspective both games complement each other.

“I do know occasions last year where he went away on rugby camps and he had the hurley with him. It is a big part of who he is. He is in a catch-22 situation. Do I continue my rugby? Will there be chances in hurling? He is a big lad but as a father I am concerned there is a burn-out factor which is a huge thing in sport. It is a situation he will have to address.”

Given Ardmore’s campaign has encroached on the rugby season, the CIT student finds himself on the pitch four nights a week, at least one game in either code at the weekend added to the gym hours clocked daily.

“Frank Flannery [Ardmore coach] has been good to him and all he wants is that he has a hurley is his hand and is up against a wall. He is getting the physical training with Cork Con. Seamus understands what is required from a playing perspective and a recovery perspective. If you look at the Irish Examiner this week they ran a piece on enhancements, on young guys taking protein and creatine, but we haven’t gone down that road here in this house.

“It is an issue that needs to be addressed, however. How does a young player juggle two sports? Should they just focus on one? ”

Seamus, along with the Gartland brothers David and John, Michael Cronin, Conor O’Shea and Daniel Power, form the emerging generation of Ardmore hurlers, but Keating is keen to single out those who have been ploughing a lone furrow since the turn of the millennium, players who were involved in the club’s maiden IHC title win back in 2002 and are still leading the frontline assault.

“We are still relying on some of the old guard – Clinton Hennessy, Richie Hennessy, Seamus and Declan Prendergast. We would hold the opinion down here that Seamus Prendergast is the finest club hurler Waterford ever produced.

“His ability to bring on the younger lads is phenomenal. They know without the younger guys coming on board we would not have got over the line this year. We also needed to bring in someone who wouldn’t tolerate any nonsense, who wouldn’t tolerate any indiscipline. Frank Flannery has been coaching the team for the past three months and though he will shortly depart for bigger and better things, his influence has been massive.

“Seamus and Declan would be brothers, as would Niall, Cathal and Richie Hennessy, first cousins then to Wayne and Clinton. The Hennessys and the Prendergasts won three minors on the hop and an U21 A championship. They are the real backbone to bringing us to where we are.

“You have to understand Ardmore is enveloped in a rural environment. You are living in an environment of farmers and agricultural contractors.”

With local pride at stake all other commitments are tossed out the window; football, rugby, even cutting silage. As is nearly always the case at the end of the R673, hurling takes priority.