John Fogarty: Waterford is a county that desperately needs to feel better about itself

Performance coach O’Sullivan the most important man in Déise dressing room this week

BRAINS TRUST: Waterford hurling management team of Peter Queally, Dan Shanahan, Shane O’Sullivan and Nigel Skehan Photo: INPHO/Ken Sutton

After being tattooed by Cork last month, Waterford manager Peter Queally sung the praises of his performance coach Shane O’Sullivan when the team responded with the home win over Limerick.

“We had Shane O'Sullivan back with us this week. He was celebrating with Ballygunner the previous week, so Shane was a big addition to us as well. That mindset work, that's what we needed more than anything to work on this week, our heads as well as the bodies and that."

Selector Dan Shanahan was just as fulsome in his praise for his old county team-mate. “Shane is there 24-7 for them lads and he's played for Waterford. He has 15 county medals so his advice, even without professional advice, is unbelievable and to have a man from your own county that has that knowledge of the game of hurling, and the knowledge of sports psychology, is unbelievable.” 

Coming off the back of two defeats and with seven days to turn it around against Tipperary on Sunday, there is probably no person more important in the dressing room this week than O’Sullivan.

As Shanahan mentioned, playing for Waterford is O'Sullivan's lived experience and it’s something he has over the other accomplished performance coaches working with Munster SHC teams – Caroline Currid (Limerick), Gerry Hussey (Cork) and Cathal Sheridan (Tipperary) – with the exception of former Clare hurler Tony Griffin who is now assisting Nollaig O’Sullivan in his own county.

O’Sullivan set up his company Inspiring Excellence in 2019 and he counts among his clients the likes of Apple, Deloitte, IBM and JP Morgan. But his role with Waterford may be his greatest task.

Soon after taking up the role in 2024, he warned it would take time. “It’s not going to be easy. It’s a big body of work but we’re really looking forward to it. There’s a lot of homegrown people involved in the set-up and it’s very important that we nurture our own people and leave it in a better place for the next group so it’s more long-term sustainable.

“I think we need to unite the clans and rally around each other in this county and start building from there and really progress together.” 

O’Sullivan could have been referencing the them-and-us attitude between his Ballygunner club and the rest of the county. Envy isn’t too strong a word to describe some rival clubs’ attitude to the ‘Gunners as they seek a 13th senior championship title this year. Competition is healthy and that extends to a county panel.

In fairness to Queally, he has leaned into the success story that is Ballygunner by recruiting O’Sullivan and had looked to add another non-playing member from the club when he succeeded Davy Fitzgerald. The presence of seven Ballygunner players in the panel doesn’t suggest a club-versus-county conflict either.

However, for a county that has failed to emerge from all six Munster senior round-robin championships to date, O’Sullivan clearly has his hands full. Players have spoken about taking more ownership of the team and being sick of their hurling finishing in May but clearly they haven’t been sick enough.

Fitzgerald alluded to the camp’s psychological challenges in his first year back in 2023. Low morale was a major issue. In that first year back, he brought in former Munster and Ireland rugby player Donncha O’Callaghan but it was only in an advisory role.

“I think that confidence was dented before I got there, to be honest with you,” he said in October 2023. “I think their last year, Munster championship didn’t go well.

“I think the round-robin hasn’t gone well for Waterford as you can see over the last number of years they’ve been there. The defeats in Liam’s (Cahill) last year definitely had an effect, I think, mentally.” 

Further losses followed in Fitzgerald’s reign, which would only have compounded the disconsolation and Queally was riding sidecar for them as selector.

Cahill, who returns to face his former charges this weekend, admitted last year he went too far in criticising players during his time with the county.

“I definitely got it wrong early on in my career with Waterford,” he told the Irish Independent. “I would have been angry with certain performances of players.

“While I never mentioned names, it was the wrong narrative to send out because players are human and they don’t need to be questioned in public by their manager.” 

Waterford are a group that desperately need to feel better about themselves and believe their whole is greater than the sum of their results in recent times.

Shanahan’s declaration after the Limerick game that their aim wasn’t to get out of Munster but to win it is the type of blue-sky thinking O’Sullivan would appreciate.

For a county often guilty of reading too much into one result, the performance coach shouldn’t have too much trouble focusing minds this Sunday. The consequences are serious enough for there to be in no doubt about what’s on the line.