Post mortems are premature
Waterford's Sean Mackey and Cork's Tommy O'Connell in a battle for the sliothar during their clash.
I try not to read too much into league openers. After all, we did go down at the hands of Carlow at this exact interval last time out.
That said, there have been some dark days leaving Páirc Uí Chaoimh as a Waterford native, and Sunday was up there for certain.
Outclassed, outfought, outworked from minute one - it was definitely a day to forget. I don’t want to point to excuses or absences and skirt around issues, but it is definitely fair to say that context could have told you this result was coming before it occurred.
A Cork side with a new manager, reigning League and Munster champions, last year’s beaten All-Ireland finalists, going into 2026 with a point to prove. This would’ve been a huge task no matter what the Waterford team turned up. Peter Queally himself acknowledged that in his pre-match interview. A full-strength Waterford on their best day would’ve had their work cut out coming up here.
As bad as Waterford were, Cork were also excellent. Every mistake punished, fine margins becoming telling differences. Fringe players for the Rebels took their chances; fringe players for Waterford generally faltered.
They won’t need me to tell them - nor am I qualified to - but with the exception of Reuben Halloran, a lot of those players will know they could’ve done a whole lot more. Aside from Halloran, 0-4 from play. Not good enough, but not worth pontificating about either.
Ian Kenny, Tadhg de Burca, Paddy Leavy, Kieran Bennett, Jack Prendergast, Dessie Hutchinson, Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mahony, Patrick Fitzgerald, Gavin Fives, Patrick Curran. All to return. Panic stations? Not just yet.
This result will cause alarm for many, and that’s fair enough - but when you consider who was missing and what was on the line for the opposition by comparison, it starts to make a lot more sense. I couldn’t care if Cork won by 30+ points on Sunday, so long as Waterford turn up on the day that counts - Munster Championship, Walsh Park, May 10th.
It’s a well-documented reality, too, that league form doesn’t necessarily translate to a championship, so it might take a couple of weeks to find the feet. The Ballygunner contingent’s return will be a most welcome development, as will the return of many of the aforementioned. Ian Kenny’s experience was missed at the back on Sunday, as was the calmness exuded by someone like De Burca. The scoring power of Stephen Bennett also needs no introduction, but the focus this year for Waterford has to be lifting some of the burden off his shoulders in that respect.
Improvement will be needed and needed fast with Limerick coming to Walsh Park this weekend, and the reality is - as much as I hate saying it, it’s hard to see anything other than a Limerick win. This is what we’re dealing with, though. You have to be realistic. You need to be at the peak of your powers in counties like Waterford to get results against Cork, Limerick, Tipperary, and Kilkenny. You don’t turn up, you get found out. You turn up, you’re in with a shout. Obvious, I know.
This is the second year of the Peter Queally era. You, of course, want to see progress. Progress this year is staying up in the league and getting out of Munster. Talk of silverware or going toe-to-toe with the powerhouses is far-fetched at present. It has to be game by game and no more. We’ve shown in recent seasons that we can make Walsh Park a torrid place to come to. Offaly will be crucial for league aspirations, and we could be fighting to stay up when Tipperary visit in March, while the visit of the Premier and Cork to Keane’s Road in Munster will be a lot more telling than any January duels.
There’s also a tendency around this time of year to confuse development with linear progression. It rarely works that way, particularly in counties like Waterford where depth has always been the tightrope.
You blood lads, you take a few punches, you accept setbacks that look ugly on a scoreboard but are part of the process, whether we like it or not. Not every league outing can be treated as a referendum on where the programme is headed.
Sunday felt bleak because it was bleak. Nobody is pretending otherwise, but January hammerings have a way of distorting reality. They magnify every flaw, every missed opportunity, every loose touch, while conveniently ignoring the fact that this group - when close to full strength - has already shown it can compete, ambush, and occasionally bloody the noses of teams with far more resources at their disposal.
What matters now is response. Not in terms of grand statements or soundbites, but in small, measurable improvements. More bite. Better decision-making. Forwards offering options rather than waiting for ball to break their way. These are basics, yes, but basics that separate respectable defeats from the kind of afternoon we saw in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
There’s also a responsibility on supporters - difficult as it is, to allow this team a bit of oxygen. The easy thing is to spiral into familiar narratives: same old Waterford, same problems, same ceiling.
The harder thing is to acknowledge where the limitations are while still backing the direction of travel. Nobody involved is under any illusion about the gap to the top tier. Pretending otherwise helps no one, least of all the players trying to bridge it.
If the league ends with survival secured and a handful of emerging players better for the exposure, that’s progress. If Munster brings a couple of performances that make Walsh Park crackle again, even better. That’s the bar for now, whether we like it or not. Anything beyond that is a bonus, not an expectation.
So yes, Waterford were horrendous on Sunday. It happens. It will probably happen again at some point between now and April.
But seasons aren’t defined in January, and neither are teams.
The post-mortems can wait. The real judgement comes when the stakes are real, the panels fuller, and the days longer.
Until then, take the hit, park it, and move on.
Up the Déise. Hail, rain, shine.
