Ryan: “If you look too far ahead - you’re in bother”
Jason Ryan embraces Mikey Mahony after Ballygunner's win over De La Salle during the Waterford Senior Hurling Championship. Photo: ©INPHO/James Lawlor
Ballygunner manager Jason Ryan knows the prospect of becoming the most successful club in the history of the province is there should they get across the line on Sunday - but talk of such has been stopped in its tracks with full focus on the game itself and no time for sideshows.
The Gunners could pick up a remarkable fourth Munster crown in five seasons should they get across the line at Semple Stadium, as they gear up for an eighth successive showpiece. Ryan says it’s testament to the remarkable consistency of the group, who are simply obsessive when it comes to silverware.
“Lots of different things can motivate you. The reality is - it’s a game and everyone has jobs to do. Focus on getting your job done, whatever that might be. These players know what it takes, how to prepare for these occasions. The level of consistency they’ve shown is really really impressive. They want to win trophies. They want to win another Munster title. If you look too far ahead, you’re in bother - there hasn’t been any conversation about titles in our group. It’s all just been about preparing in the best way that we possibly can.” Revenge may well have come into play when defeating Sarsfields in the semi-final, but the most important thing for the group was simply to progress past the Leesiders.
“Stating the obvious - the most important thing was just to win the game. The lads have a record of qualifying for so many finals in a row and winning so many matches in Munster. It wasn’t about losing last year for the lads, it was the fact they didn’t play to their full potential. They performed to that level for so many parts of the game at Walsh Park. It wasn’t a perfect performance but there were periods when some of the play was outstanding.” Hitting the magic 30-point mark makes you hard to beat in any game of hurling and Ryan was extremely pleased with his forwards finding peak form as the season heads for its most important period.
“It was brilliant and even better to score four goals and create a lot of goalscoring chances. It all starts from the back, being in the right position to turn over the opposition and then transition really fast. When you get to that 30-point mark, you put yourself in a very strong position to win games. If I was the opposition manager - I’d be thinking how do you deal with the threat of Pauric Mahony, but also, Patrick Fitzgerald has been such a threat, Dessie Hutchinson has been sublime and some of his link-up play is phenomenal. Mikey Mahony and Peter Hogan’s work rate is second to none and then you have Kevin Mahony firing and coming back to full fitness. We have serious forwards that have all displayed pieces of individual excellence and they all work so well together too.” Eire Óg Inis pose a whole new challenge to the Gunners, themselves a side looking to lift the O’Neill Cup for the first time. They did see off Tipperary champions Loughmore-Castleiney last time out but possess a wealth of talent and All-Ireland winners with Clare in their arsenal.
“They have some fantastic players and it’s a whole new challenge. Shane O’Donnell, a Hurler of the Year, is obviously a superb hurler, and there’s others there like Aaron Fitzgerald and David Reidy. There’s also other guys that we’re maybe not as familiar with but we have to try to get our homework done with our strong back room team and we’ll prepare the boys as best as we can. Thankfully it’s a two week turnaround - it’s not for them as they’re still going in the Munster Senior Club Football Championship and a lot of guys are involved in both. They’re going week on week and we have our two week turnaround time. We’re privileged to be able to represent Waterford on this stage and we hope we can bring it home again.”
