“We’ve got back on the horse and driven on”
Waterford manager Jerry Wallace speaks to his team before their Munster Quarter-Final win over Limerick.
Waterford have squashed last year's All-Ireland final loss to Cork according to manager Jerry Wallace.
The Midleton man first met the players last December in the SETU Arena and addressed the elephant in the room. “We had a nice, open meeting and we took the decision that night not to discuss the All-Ireland and what had happened because we felt we were a new group of people together. No one needed to go back and revisit that. The girls themselves felt that they left down a hell of a lot of people. There’s nothing better when you get a bit of chastising in life than to get back on the aul horse and go again. We’ve just got back on the horse and driven on as best we can. It’s great to be in a final at this stage of the year and who knows what will happen after Sunday.”
The addition of Megan Thornton to the set-up was vital. “It was identified to me by the player group the importance of bringing on board a sports psychologist. Megan has complete access to the players on her own. I’ve no doubt that they have addressed some of the issues coming out of that All-Ireland. That relationship between the sports psychologist and the players is sacrosanct. It’s got nothing to do with me. That’s working really well for us. It’s good for the girls to know that if they need to bounce something off her that they can talk to a professional.”
He would love to see Lorraine Bray lift the Munster cup on Sunday. “It would be marvellous if this group of girls could get to the summit. Last year, they got knocked out by Tipperary in the Munster semi-final but they went on to the All-Ireland final. Someone said that they put the cart before the horse. Maybe, this year we’re putting the horse before the cart by getting to the Munster final first and then kicking on to the next event. It would be a marvellous moment for Waterford to win the Munster final but we’re coming up against a powerhouse in camogie and it’s going to be a real tough game for us. We have to go up there and give it our best shot. If we win, if we lose, if we draw, we’ll be back training again the following Tuesday night, we won’t be moaning to anyone about anything, we’ll get on with our work again.”
Wallace will give his players a straightforward message before they hit the field. “The most important thing going into a Munster final is you must play the match. The match is a green field. Yes, it has the surrounds of the stadium and all the paraphernalia around it. The most important thing that any player can do is bring their best game and hopefully it will be Waterford’s day.”
