‘Continuity’ the key going forward for Waterford Camogie says new boss Michael Boland

CONTINUITY: New Waterford Camogie interim manager Michael Boland pictured with Orla Hickey. Pic: Noel Browne

New Waterford senior camogie manager Michael 'Mick' Boland insists continuity is the key going forward for the Deise - despite a mid-season managerial switch-up.

Following the sudden retirement of Jerry Wallace at the conclusion of the Division 1A League campaign where Waterford avoided the drop by the skin of their teeth - Boland, formerly a selector under Wallace - has now been entrusted to take the reins on an interim basis.

There isn't much time for the Carrigtwohill club man to dwell - as Waterford have a Munster Senior Camogie Championship semi-final to worry about next weekend - against the winner of this weekend's meeting of Tipperary and Limerick.

Speaking to WLR Sport following his appointment, Boland admitted that the Deise's focus is May 31st, not next weekend.

"It's a quick turnaround in fairness - we've been training away for the last week and a half, two weeks. The girls got three or four days downtime after the league and it's a quick turnaround. We're preparing as best we can - but the match in Nowlan Park is probably a lot more important than the match in the Munster semi-final. We'll probably be aiming towards Kilkenny on the 31st of May more than the match with Tipperary or Limerick."

Taking over a team in the middle of a season is a far from ideal scenario to the minds of many - but for Boland, he does have the benefit of having worked with the group for an extended period of time. Continuity is the key word for Waterford Camogie.

"I've been involved here now a year and a half with Jerry and in fairness to most of the management that were involved, there will be continuity, I think most of the management have stayed on board, which is good. The biggest thing for us now is to continue the work that has gone on. The managers before us - Sean Power, Derek Lyons, Jerry - it's just probably to continue that work more than anything and developing the players that are coming through and try and bring them a little bit higher, maybe to the next level. They're not 100 miles away. It's about just building on that continuity and just driving on. The group of girls that we've got here, their attitude is brilliant."

Namechecking players like Eimear O'Neill and Maggie Gostl and pointing toward recent underage progress - Boland emphasised his belief that the future of Waterford Camogie is destined to be bright.

"One thing we should do is just drive on now and concentrate and probably bring in the younger girls that are coming through, because it's important for Waterford Camogie that these girls do come through because they're the future of Waterford. Look at the amount of young girls that have come into the panel this year - Eimear O'Neill, Maggie Gostl. You look at all these young girls and you look at other girls then - new players that have come into the panel and you say, right, it's their first taste of senior. It doesn't just happen straight away for them. It takes a bit of time. You can't just come from a club scene and go into senior camogie and expect to be a superstar straight away. It takes a bit of time to blood yourself in. You're putting them around experienced players like Niamh Rockett, Beth Carton and Lorraine Bray. When you put them in around those kind of girls, it takes a bit of time, but they learn very, very quickly because in fairness, in the dressing room, the standards are very, very high."

Citing that there has been 'an awful lot of learnings' as a result of a league campaign which yielded two victories and three defeats - Boland said attentions have switched following Wallace's departure - and the focus is firmly fixed on on-field matters.

"I think that switched over the last couple of sessions. In fairness to Jerry - he's done massive work here. The bottom line is that moved on when Jerry decided to step away and retire. We're very clear in what we're trying to do. We're looking at the All-Ireland, getting out of the group and that's the only target we have on our backs, nothing else. The group are very, very clear-minded on what they want to do. We'll take every session as it goes. Every week we go out, we'll try and get learnings out of it. There's a lot of young girls in that dressing room. At the moment they mightn't be where they want to be. It only takes one match to inspire confidence. You get a ball, you put it into the back of the net - or you put it over the bar, you can change that player fairly quickly. She can excel. It's about trying to get that small bit of confidence into them to drive on now and have a small bit of belief in themselves."