Waterford football manager Ephie Fitzgerald wants to see his players grow as people during his time in charge.

"The development of the person is always more important for me than the development of the footballer," he told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "I don't do a whole lot of coaching as manager, it's the individual interaction with the players and see how they're getting on. They're young men at the end of the day. Life is tough now. For me, it's always been about the development of the human being and if there's issues there that I can help with. What I'm trying to do is to give them the confidence to go out and play and give them the confidence to get on with whatever they're doing in their lives. That's so important. I pride myself on having an interaction with guys and Peter Leahy is very good like that as well. We're there for them, we listen to them, we encourage them and we cajole them. We try and improve their football skills and all of that but that they grow as men. For me, that's the most important thing."

Fitzgerald works as a teacher with Youthreach Mahon in Cork. He believes that gambling is a big issue among young players and young people. "It's so accessible now. You pick up your phone and go onto one of the sites and, hey presto, you're in. Gambling is more serious than the other issues because with the others, it can show. With drugs, that can show. You can wipe yourself out in no time and that affects families then and relationships."