Andy Smith: ‘Great to be hurling again in August’

Andy Smith is a Galway veteran with 11 seasons of senior service under his belt.

But his experience of Croke Park playing days offers a perfect snapshot of where the county reside in the hurling hierarchy.

An unused substitute in Galway’s epic 2005 All-Ireland semi-final win over Kilkenny, tomorrow will mark only Smith’s second semi-final appearance at headquarters.

Indeed, he holds the unusual distinction of having played in more All-Ireland finals than semis, featuring as he did in both the 2012 drawn and replayed contests.

When your debut season ends in September, expectations are raised.

“After 2005, you would expect you’d get to a good few semi-finals. You’d hope every year that you’d be at the top table, but that wasn’t the case,” reflects the Portumna forward ahead of the county’s third penultimate round fixture in 11-years.

“It’s not good enough for a hurling county like Galway, and with our underage success. Since 2012, things didn’t go according to plan. It’s great to be hurling again in August. I mean, it’s not a luxury we’re used to in Galway.”

Mind you, there was little expectation Galway would be involved beyond race week this summer following the“disjointed” league quarter-final exit to Waterford. The criticism that ensued still stings.

“It was hurtful alright,” Smith admits. “But I suppose you just take what was written on the chin and use it as a motivational thing.

“We were in a bad place. But we just had to get down and work harder and start grafting again. “That day down in Walsh Park, nobody seemed to perform — and that just showed, Waterford steamrolled us. But we knew we were a better team than that, and we just had to work on it.”

Central to their return to August action, the half-forward believes, has been the blooding of Pádraig Mannion, John Hanbury and Conor Whelan this summer.

“Pádraig Mannion, in fairness, this is his first year and he was nearly thrown in at the deep end. He’s proving a very good corner-back and a very good stickman. It’s great to see the likes of him expressing himself on championship days. Conor [Whelan] only came into the squad I’d say six weeks ago. He’s not even two months in the squad and, in fairness, he showed very good attitude in training and very good form. He’s been rewarded on that.

“I suppose we’ve a more mature squad this year. We’ve a good mix — some of the old, more experienced boys but a lot of youth coming through. And, in fairness, those boys are really proving it this year.

“They’re stepping up to the plate, the likes of Cathal Mannion and Jason Flynn. These lads are putting great enthusiasm into the squad. And you need that; you need a good healthy mix. We’ve a better squad this year, definitely. There’s a good collectivity there within the squad, and a good unity with the squad.”

An unused sub in the 2005 quarter-final win over Tipperary, the four-time All-Ireland club medal-winner has never been present inside the whitewash for a championship victory over their neighbours.

2010 was tough. Last July was galling. “We were six-points up with nearly 18 minutes to go and we just crumbled. We just lost all shape. I don’t know if it was nightmares looking at it there only a few weeks ago… we lost complete shape in the half- forward line and midfield, and Tipperary just outworked us that day. We were competitive up to a certain point and then we just seemed to collapse.

“It was very soul-destroying to watch it again. It was just demoralising to look back at it. We watched the game as preparation for Sunday and obviously will try not let that happen again. You’d have to be looking at clips anyway. With the way the game is gone, you get e-mailed your clips from previous games and your opponents going forward. You’ll get clips of them and you have to do a lot of research on that too.”

So what had Andy Smith to work on for tomorrow?

“I’ve to work on an awful lot, every day! Your work-rate is never up to where it should be, your striking ability and your feeding of the boys inside — they’re all stuff you have to work on. Look it, every day is a school day.”