There won't be much in Waterford-Cork derby, warns Déise legend Prendergast
Seamus Prendergast of Waterford tussles Cork's Cian Fogarty at Pairc Ui Rinn in 2011. The Déise man says 'a lot of the players are going down very easily' now. Pic: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE
In all his 14 years playing senior hurling for Waterford, Seamus Prendergast’s championship never concluded before June.
Granted, all but one of them featured a backdoor system but this recent pattern of the county’s business finishing in May remains alien to him. The stakes have never been so high, so quickly.
Prendergast is not defeatist. He feels the quasi knock-out nature to this clash with Cork for Waterford will suit them. Still, he sure would like to see more championship hurling beyond the provincial round-robin competitions.
“Waterford sure have never got out of it. It's a pity because down through the years there's nothing between the five teams in any given moment. Limerick and Cork are probably that bit ahead at the moment.
“Tipperary were written off this time last year and they went on and won the All-Ireland. There's no reason why the same run couldn't happen for Waterford because there's very little between them. They had chances to beat Tipperary last week and they were very close in beating Clare as well.
“It’s just a pity that it's not done like the football and after the Munster championship, they'd go on and play an All-Ireland series. I think it would probably suit Waterford more to get a run going, get a few games under their belt but that's for another day, I suppose.
“There are an awful lot of football games between now and June. Hurling-wise, there’s probably only eight or nine decent games left to be on television.
“There’ll only be eight to 10 teams in it anyway. You could have three or four games over a couple of weekends, extra games for every county and put it out on television and let people see the game as well, which is badly needed for kids and that as well.”
As Prendergast says, a conversation for some time down the line. There’s a derby to be played. His derby. Youghal is less than 15 kilometres from Ardmore where he is now chairman and busy raising funds for new floodlights.
“A lot of Cork people come to Ardmore during the summer, and you’d be reminded of being beaten very often. I loved playing against Cork. We had great games against them down through the years.”
Cork are flying high but Prendergast knows the venue hasn’t often been to their liking, as was the case two years ago, and there’s the unmarkable form of Stephen Bennett who he says is “hurler of the year material in my eyes at the moment.
“Cork will be under pressure finding a fella to mark Stephen Bennett if he’s inside the full-back line. Ciarán Joyce would be a serious problem for Stephen Bennett. He's very good. He's an aggressive player. He's fast.
“Where Stephen Bennett will start out… centre-back, I suppose they have a couple of options in Cork for that. The full-back position will be the one that I'd say will worry him the most, especially with the threat that Waterford have in there.
“These games have been very competitive. Even last year, up in Páirc Uí Chaoimh, it ended up only a few points in it. I think it'll be a very tight game below in Walsh Park. The pitch kind of suits Waterford and I don't know if Cork like travelling down to Walsh Park.”
Former Cork coach Donal O’Rourke, now with his native county assisting Peter Queally, could be the other ace in the hole, feels Prendergast.
“He should have some good insights into the players. Their strong points and their weak points. It's very hard to find a weak point in a county player now but he'll have some insights for the players.
“It might make a big difference in a hook or a block when somebody's going for a goal. Maybe somebody mightn’t be as good in the high ball area as other players. They'll be able to match players up in those positions, but it'll be a benefit, definitely.”
On a general note, Prendergast hopes it’s an honest contest. Prendergast was a hurler not known to shirk the physical exchanges and he worries about simulation in the modern game.
“A lot of managers are looking for the free-flowing game at the same time a lot of the players are going down very easily for a simple touch on the helmet or slight contact on it. You can’t have it both ways.
“You don't like to see fellas throwing themselves on the ground and trying to get the other fella sent off during the game, which isn't very manly or sportsmanship.
“There seems to be a bit of feigning and diving. If a fella gets up fairly quickly after what is supposed to be a big hit, it’s not a big hit. There were plenty of big hits back in the day. A fella in Cork would hit you hard and it was a big part of the game.
“It is a manly game and when you’re at that level, to get to that level you're after getting plenty of belts and it's a pity to have fellas rolling around the ground trying to get a fella sent off or booked for very little.”
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