World champ Dunne spoke to Déise players

Waterford hurlers drew on world champion Bernard Dunne’s experience in preparing for last Sunday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final against Kilkenny.

The WBA Super Bantamweight champion met up with the Waterford panel before the game and spoke to the players at half-time in their five-point defeat by All-Ireland champions Kilkenny.

After the game Dunne joined both the Waterford and Kilkenny squads in the player lounge in Croke Park.

Waterford sources said Dunne spoke well, comparing their challenge facing the Cats to his position before beating Ricardo Cordoba last March for the world title; the Dublin native said that he had had to come back after a catastrophic loss to Kiko Martinez in 2007 and advised Waterford that they could do the same.

Although Waterford lost Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final, Kilkenny’s five-point winning margin was much narrower than last year’s one-sided All-Ireland final, which the Cats won by 23 points.

It’s not the first time that the Waterford hurlers have crossed paths with Dunne – back in March the panel attended Dunne’s title fight with Cordoba in the O2 Arena the night before they played Dublin in the national league.

Meanwhile, speculation is continuing in the southeast about the future of veteran star Tony Browne, Hurler of the Year 11 years ago.

Browne is now 36 and indicated earlier this year that this would be his last season. He made his senior inter-county debut back in 1993, having captained the county U21 side to their only All-Ireland success the previous season.