Peter Queally: 'Even if it's cards with the mother, Davy wants to win'

Selector Peter Queally senses the expectation is that Waterford will be cannon fodder and wants the players to block out the noise and focus on themselves

Sat, 22 Apr, 2023 - 07:25

John Fogarty

Waterford, a land of fire and ice and going by the slow ticket sales for Sunday’s game against Limerick in Thurles it’s a tundra right now.

Selector Peter Queally sensed it. Facing the All-Ireland champions in a format where they have lost 10 of 12 occasions, expectations are zilch in sharp contrast to this time last year when they entered the Munster SHC as Division 1 champions with talk of a trilogy with Limerick ringing in their ears.

“We probably need to find a level ground in relation to the hype,” says Queally. “That was there last year as opposed to being written off at the moment. I hope we’ve learned lessons of not listening too much to the outside noise. It’s something we have to be mindful of.

“While supporters might have lost the run of themselves last year and there was a small bit of buy-in (from the players) in relation to it, the opposite is probably the case this year where nobody is giving us a chance and everyone is telling us we’re going to be cannon fodder. So, we just need to block out that noise and concentrate on ourselves.”

Queally isn’t playing beal bocht. A moral victory is the most a lot of Waterford supporters are hoping for.

“The reason probably behind it is we have Limerick first. People don’t tend to look beyond that. A lot of the talk is ‘Jees, Limerick are flying’, ‘you’re going to be up against it’, ‘it’s a big ask’.

“We have looked at this as two blocks: we have Limerick and seven days later Cork and then we have time off and then we have another block. Everything isn’t just focused on the first game against Limerick, the All-Ireland champions. We’re looking at the overall picture.

“We’re probably not as far down the pecking order as some people might think we are but unfortunately in Waterford they’re probably just looking at the first game against Limerick and that is going to be a tall order. We know it is but there’s the bigger picture to look at too.”

That approach will be key if Waterford are to finally get over their round-robin hang-up at the fourth time of asking. Knock-out hurling has been more to their liking but it has to change.

“I think sometimes we have got too caught up on playing a game and forgetting there’s a game seven days later. Getting two points out of four wouldn’t put you in a bad place.

“Look, we have to look at the probability or possibility of losing a game or even both. We probably need four, maybe five points (to get out of Munster). We can’t get caught up in losing a game or losing two games. It’s all about getting just enough points to get out. I think that would make a massive difference to this team, to get out of Munster and see where that gets us. I don’t think we’re a lot different to other teams playing in this round-robin Munster Championship.”

Survival is all that he has on his mind right now but it was the prospect of the county’s first senior All-Ireland title since 1959 that Queally agreed to rejoin Davy Fitzgerald for a second stint.

“Definitely we dream. We’re all jealous of Limerick. We saw the success that they have had and what it meant to the county and the supporters so there is a longing there to taste that.

“I won’t lie to you, when Davy rang part of the reason (I said yes) was, ‘Yeah, this team can do it and it would be brilliant to be part of it.’ You’re not going to turn up a chance at that."

Queally knows Fitzgerald’s philosophy is an acquired taste – “it will divide opinion, there is no doubt about that.” The positioning of Dessie Hutchinson further out the field during the league drew plenty of criticism as much as the best was hardly going to be seen of him on such heavy pitches. It was temporary, insists Queally. “It would be silly of us to not supply the ball into him.”

The former Waterford defender has fully bought into the approach.

“I’m sure when he started out with Wexford it would have divided opinion. But when they won the Leinster final, I’m not sure the same opinion would have been there.

“It’s looking at the overall. What we have. The players available. Maximising the potential, whatever style that may be. It will rankle some people but we’re 100% behind what he’s trying to implement at the moment. Hopefully, that will bear fruit.”

What’s done is done for results. Queally only knows Fitzgerald as a winner. “As he says to the lads, no matter what he plays, whether it’s cards with the mother, he wants to win.”