Dan Shanahan wary of Tipperary backlash

Waterford selector Dan Shanahan has warned that Tipperary will be “very keen” to make up for their late defeat to Kilkenny in the last round of NHL games.

Fri, 04 Mar, 2016 - 00:00

Michael Moynihan

Tipp conceded two late goals to lose to the Cats and Shanahan says the Déise players can expect a backlash.

“We’re looking forward to it — playing Tipperary in their own back garden is every young fella’s dream. Being honest, they probably should have beaten Kilkenny in their last league match, they had one or two goal chances they didn’t take, one or two players didn’t perform the way they can.

“They’ll be very keen to make up for that on Sunday — Michael Ryan’s a good guy but he’s still the new manager that the players will feel they have to impress, and from their point of view what better place to do it than on their own home patch against the team on top of the table.”

Waterford have two wins under their belt but manager Derek McGrath said that didn’t give them the freedom to experiment with selection.

“Derek is right, if we lose Sunday and other teams pick up points you end up under a fair bit of pressure. But that’s the way it goes — the top division is dog eat dog and it’s very hard to try different things.

“You could maybe try that in 1B, though there are very good teams in that division too. It’s very difficult in 1A, though.” The difficulty brings its own rewards, the Lismore man adds.

“I think it’s bringing our lads on, definitely. Anyone who’s seen our lads play this year will probably have noticed how strong they are, and that’s huge credit to the players themselves and to the work being put into them by the strength and conditioning coaches we have.

“Sometimes when you play against better teams, in bigger games, some players don’t feel under as much pressure. They feel they can go out and express themselves because there are no expectations. And we don’t put any expectations on the players, particularly the younger lads. They can go out and play. If we’re beaten by Tipperary, having put in a good performance ourselves, because Tipperary are the better team on the day, then we won’t fault anyone. If the lads give a performance and do their best, what more can we ask?”

Many observers feel Waterford look stronger this year, and Shanahan agrees, though he points out Tadhg de Burca is still a couple of weeks away from match fitness.

“It might have taken the lads a while to get used to Gary (Walsh) our strength and conditioning coach, when he came in last year. There were techniques to be learned and so on.

“This year they’re more used to him and he’s used to them and they’ve really driven it on. It was Fergal (O’Brien, physical trainer)’s first year as well last year, so he knows the whole scene better and the lads know him better this year too.

“Without getting into too many names, Jake Dillon, in fairness, came back in fantastic condition this year, but different fellas have different needs and abilities. Some lads are working on speed, some are working on upper-body strength, some are working on leg strength.

Gary and Fergal studied the boys and tailored the training accordingly.

“It’s unbelievable, the training they’re doing — I’ve fallen in for a couple of sessions but it has to be done, because that’s what all the teams are doing, but it doesn’t mean all our lads are at the same. There’s no point in giving Brick Walsh the same programme as Shane Bennett: Brick is there 12 years and Shane is only starting.”

Waterford haven’t found the net so far in the league but Shanahan isn’t concerned. “That’s been said to us but Shane Bennett was a whisker away from a goal against Kilkenny, and Patrick Curran got a fantastic save from Anthony Nash in the opening minutes against Cork.

“When we looked at the Cork game again on tape we felt that if we’d played the game intelligently we’d have created a few more goal chances, and we told the lads that.

“Also, it’s experience — I was saying to Patrick after the game that he could have stepped in because the defender had already dived to block, and that would have made it easier for him. But that’s what the games are there for, that’s how you learn. He’ll learn from that, same as the rest of them.

“If you win games without scoring goals we don’t see a problem as long as the lads are working hard all the times. It’s not about getting goals, remember, it’s about getting results. If we win ten points to nine we’d be quite happy.”