Mullane plays down talk of revenge

Waterford's John Mullane was in Dublin yesterday at a Guinness Hurling 250 Competition launch, but nothing will take his mind off Sunday's All-Ireland SHC semi-final clash with Kilkenny - no talk of revenge, it will just be another day at the office for the De La Salle ace.

This game-by-game approach has served the former All-Star forward well this summer, with his four-match haul of 1-16 including the winning point last time out against Galway.

"I suppose really we've hurled in spouts and in patches of 10- to 15-minute spells. Realistically we haven't hurled for a full 70 minutes yet this year," he said.

Mullane was the Deise hero in the recent quarter-final. Held scoreless by a stubborn Galway defence, the 28-year-old took centre stage in injury time as he split the posts and set up a semi-final showdown with champions Kilkenny.

"We were given the opportunity to hurl in the last five minutes against Galway and I suppose this weekend against Kilkenny we won't be given that opportunity.

"We'll have to come up trumps with more scores from play and we can't really depend strongly on Eoin (Kelly) from frees.

"We've been over-relying on him hitting the frees over the bar, so we probably have to come up with a better showing from open play."

Hammered by Kilkenny in last year's All-Ireland final and trailing Tipperary by 12 points at one stage in last month's Munster final, the critics' knives were being sharpened for Waterford.

But they staged a stunning late comeback against Galway and while acknowledging that his side has been written off many times before, Mullane says that the negativity in the media can act as a motivational spur.

"That can work for you and against you, but we are only looking forward to playing in Sunday's semi-final and we are really looking forward to it.

"The pressure has come off us heading into this game, because we have nothing to lose.

"No one will be expecting anything from us on Sunday. We want to just go up to Croke Park and give a better account of ourselves than the one we gave last September."

All the talk this week in Waterford and Kilkenny will not just be about Sunday's match. Memories, good and bad, of last year's All-Ireland final meeting, when Kilkenny beat the Deise by a stunning 23 points, have also been flooding back.

According to Mullane at least, 'revenge' is not a buzz word in the Waterford camp this week.

"It hasn't been brought up once. This isn't going to be seen as a grudge match or anything like that.

"At the end of the day, last September is gone. Kilkenny were by far the superior side on the day and you just move on.

"We were probably just appalling on the day, but there has been no mention of it at all."

On his side's current form, the talismanic corner-forward is particularly pleased with the high work-rate they have maintained throughout the 2009 Championship.

"I suppose the game is changing a lot if you ask me, and it's coming down a lot now to work-rate," he explained.

"It's not the open game of hurling that everyone loves to enjoy any more - it's more tactical now.

"It comes down a lot to work-rate and whoever has the best work-rate and whoever wins the most individual battles is going to win the game."

In the past, some would have labelled Mullane as a rogue or villain, but he has certainly matured with age and is playing, without question, some of the best hurling of his career.

If things are going his way, he is happy to persevere right until the final whistle - and this quality was so evident against Galway.

"It comes with more experience and maturity really I suppose. I'm 28 now and I probably wouldn't have done that four or five years ago.

"My belief is to hurl with two things - that's honesty and to keep going until the end and until the final whistle. Those two things stood me in good effect against Galway."

The new pitch at Croke Park came through a gruelling schedule last weekend, with three All-Ireland Senior Football Championship quarter-finals and a minor football quarter-final.

Waterford face Kilkenny at the end of another hectic day's action at GAA headquarters as part of a triple bill.

"It can't be any worse than any of the grounds across Ireland. Whatever way the pitch is, it's going to be the same for both teams really," Mullane said.

The Deise marksman, looking forward to his 38th Championship appearance, knows that both he and his team-mates will have to lift their game to a new level if they are to shock Brian Cody's Cats.

He added: "At the end of the day if we perform the way we did against Galway, it just won’t be good enough to compete against Kilkenny.

"Kilkenny are a different team than Galway to be fair, and a different level to all of the other teams in Ireland at the moment.

"Any time you pull on the Waterford jersey is always a proud moment and a pleasure and it will be no different the next day. I'm just going to try and give that honest effort that I always look to put in."