Pauric Mahony ‘happy to be one of the boys again’

There’s a record Pauric Mahony wants to set straight. No, not that one. Not the lost time he wants to make up for having smashed his leg 11 months ago. That goes without saying.

Fri, 15 Apr, 2016 - 01:00

John Fogarty

Rather, it’s the contribution he made to the video which his Waterford team-mates watched prior to beating Cork in last year’s Munster semi-final.

Hailed as inspirational, Mahony’s take on it is different. “To be honest with you, that video got blown out of proportion because what actually happened was that Derek (McGrath) asked me to go into the Granville Hotel to do a video before the Cork game. So I went in there and they said ‘do a 30-second video’ and I actually couldn’t remember what I wanted to say and it took me about half an hour to do it. I just couldn’t get the words out of my mouth. So eventually they made it (look) as if I was just too emotional but actually I just couldn’t get the words out.

“So they were all on the bus sitting outside Thurles then and it was like I just couldn’t speak but it was actually just that I couldn’t get the words out.

“So when I came to the club then they asked me to do the same thing for the Munster final with Ballygunner and I said ‘no way I’m not doing it’. So eventually they said, ‘look the sponsors say 15 seconds’ so I made sure I got it first go!”

At this stage of his comeback having returned to Waterford against Dublin last month, Mahony’s happy to be one of the boys again.

“I’m after playing four or five games with Waterford now, some training matches and a game with the club. You wouldn’t think about it. The pace of the training games are high intensity, you are going from one drill to the next, you don’t have time to think about it. You are in there, it is up to yourself. I’m trying to impress the management as much as anyone else. I’m pushing myself to the limit.”

Mahony never left the panel but in his dealings with the public it’s more “ye” than “they” now. When people compliment, he feels it relates more to him than before. When people criticise, it’s the same sentiment though some comments he has to ignore.

“I suppose it was a topical conversation last year too that we weren’t scoring goals but I don’t think it really affects us, to be honest. You have to have a strong mindset and whatever is being said to you, you know if you’re going into the shop and someone could say to you ‘oh you’re too negative’ and stuff like that which happens.

“You have to just let that go in one ear and out the other because if you don’t it will reflect on the field. You’re letting outside negative vibes seep in. Any inter-county player will tell you that if you’re playing in front of 30,000 people you need to have a strong mindset. We won’t care if we were to win an All-Ireland or a Munster Championship or a National League. Once you have that silverware no one can take it from you. Who cares how you got there?”