“We don’t just want to make up the numbers” - Boland
Waterford senior camogie manager Mick Boland (centre) will be hoping that he plot a plan to beat Cork in Saturday's All-Ireland senior camogie semi-final. Photo: Noel Browne
Waterford manager Mick Boland is a Limerick man living in Carrigtwohill who is plotting Cork's downfall this weekend. Better let the man himself explain!
“I hurled all my life below in Limerick with a club called Claughaun. I came to Cork and I’ve all girls and no boys so I went with them! I have three girls. Two of them play with the local club. One of them plays minor and junior and the other plays junior. I’ve another girl that played with Cork at minor level and is in Vancouver now.”
In a fifteen year coaching career, he has become very familiar with the Cork camogie scene. He won four All Ireland minors with the Rebelettes alongside Jerry Wallace (2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023). In 2020, he guided Courcey Rovers to their first county senior title. “There’s probably eight players involved that won All Ireland minors with us. The likes of Saoirse McCarthy, Laura Hayes and Orlaith Cahalane. Saoirse would have been involved with Courceys as well. There will be no sympathy given!”
Coming up with a plan to beat this trophy laden Cork team is the biggest challenge of his managerial career. “They’re going for three in a row. They have a phenomenal pick at the moment after all the minors that came through. They have 27 or 28 players that could be on the starting fifteen on Saturday. They’re very physical, they’re very athletic and they’re very clinical inside. We’ve been working very hard since the Clare match. We were disappointed with the Clare performance. We’ll be looking to go on the front foot; we don’t just want to make up the numbers. Everyone in the country sees Cork going up the Hogan Stand and picking up the O’Duffy cup bar Waterford. That’s the way we look at it. We’re there to win the match the same as they are.”
After beating Clare three weeks ago, Boland openly admitted that his side needed to go up a notch for the semi final. “Around the middle third, Clare broke a lot of ball on us and put two or three high balls on top of us. We’ve addressed two or three different issues. I go back to two games we played this year: one against Cork and one against Galway. In both matches, we were probably physically bullied out of it in the last five or six minutes. We’ve worked very hard on that over the last week or two. It isn’t all negative. We’re scoring well. If we can get a bit more accurate in front of goal and get our conversion rate up to about 75 or 80 per cent, we’re in with a right chance here.”
He implores the Waterford public to get behind this team on Saturday in Nowlan Park. “Waterford are crying out for success. You saw that with the minors. When the minors won the All Ireland, there was mayhem out on the field! Support is vital to any team. When you go out and you hear the roar, it gives you a massive lift. I’d be hoping that Waterford will come out and support them in a big way.”
The Limerick native living in Cork wants to see a repeat of the scenes from two years ago when the Déise turned over Tipperary. “The euphoria outside on the field was unbelievable. That’s what attracts you to Waterford camogie. I’d love for this group of players, with the amount of effort they’ve put in, to bring everything they have to the table on Saturday. I know what’s in Cork and I know what’s in Waterford and there’s very little between them.”
