Refreshed Moran ready to atone for miserable year

Mild-mannered as he is, the mark 2018 seared onto Kevin Moran is not far below the surface.

Maybe it’s because he’s no longer Waterford captain that he feels that bit freer to express himself. After six seasons in the role, it was handed over to Noel Connors last month.

“Winning the league (in 2015) was great and I suppose from an All-Ireland point of view in 2017, walking in the parade in the All-Ireland final was a huge honour for myself and for my family,” the 31-year-old reminisces.

“It didn’t work out the way we would have wished but we weren’t too far away.

“I really enjoyed doing it and, look, I don’t think it’ll change too much of who I am in the dressing room or on the field. But there’s a new management in place, new players in place and maybe the team needs to evolve a little bit more.

“It’s hard to be saying the same things over and over and trying to think of new angles to come from, from my own personal point of view.

“So, from that way, it is a little bit more of a relief in that there’s more focus on trying to get your own individual self right. From my own point of view, it wasn’t up to scratch last year.”

From the sending-off in Waterford’s first game against Clare, the year went into a downward spiral for Moran. Not able to make a difference against Tipperary, the De La Salle man failed to score against either Limerick or Clare as the previous year’s All-Ireland runners-up bowed out.

Why was it that he fell so flat, after an All-Star-winning season the year before? Did that missed point attempt in the second half of the final as they led Galway by a point affect him?

You think back obviously on these nuggets of the game, ‘if I had’ve done this, if I had’ve done that’.

“Look, I’m old enough now to realise, you can’t beat yourself up over everything.

“There’s bigger things and I was only looking at AIB, they did a thing with De La Salle and Clarinbridge (2011 All-Ireland club SHC semi-final mini documentary) and you look at that and you’re like, ‘God, that was nearly worse than anything’, so you’ll drive yourself demented if you keep honing in on those and look back on them and rewind them.

“Last year, I just found it very hard. Just wasn’t playing well, had a few bad games. Struggled for form, struggled for confidence and even after all these years you still want to be playing well. You’re going to be working on things where you went wrong so just couldn’t get it right and eventually missed a few games through sickness and through suspension and anything that can went wrong.

“That’s why I’m just fresh and looking forward to the year ahead.”

What Moran felt was the same experience for most in the set-up last year.

“Sometimes you can try too hard and it just didn’t work out. It was no one’s fault, through no lack of effort. We just couldn’t get on a roll at all last year so maybe this year we’re a little bit more conscious of that and eager to start with a win and get a few wins under our belt and hopefully building blocks for the year to come.”

Returning for a 17th season, Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh can attest to feeling the same freshness as Moran as much as his inter-county retirement was seemingly written for him after the defeat to Cork last June. Moran felt Walsh was being ushered out the door.

“I think people made assumptions automatically on it. I’d say he didn’t have his mind made up. It was unfair on him. He’s probably the type of fella that it went over his head because he wouldn’t read the paper and things like that. I seen a bit myself, people kind of presumptuous in the fact that he was such a great and it was all in the past tense and you were like, ‘He could be back, like’ and ultimately he is back but that’s the way it is these days.”

If he’s being honest, Moran’s back was already up going out of the Championship so early and the injustice of that goal being awarded to Tipperary.

The controversial goal awarded to Tipperary in the Munster Championship clash against Waterford

Everyone was devastated afterwards. A chance to beat Tipperary in the Munster Championship. We haven’t actually spoken about it it all, to be honest with you, but it was a scandalous decision and a decision that shouldn’t have happened.

He hopes to see the GAA learn from it. “The amount of technology you have at your disposal, definitely there’s something there. I suppose, I think it was human error, more so than anything.

“It was just a really, really bad decision but I suppose a fourth official having a little someone in his ear, the game is live on telly, something like that would be definitely down the line and there’d be no question marks over it.

“But I suppose that just typified the year that we all had last year and it actually really affected us in the end because we could have went out then against Cork, if we had won we would have been through. People kind of forget about that as well.”