Former Deise shot-stopper Clinton Hennessy is backing the Deise to get the job done against Limerick this afternoon.
Liam Cahills team go to Dublin for their fourth game in four weeks, having dispatched Laois, Galway and Tipperary en route to the last four.
Too many games in too few weeks?
It was a similar story for Waterford in 2007 when Justin McCarthy's team played Limerick in the Munster final, followed by a game with Cork and had to go to a replay with the Rebels to progress. It was the Treaty waiting for them after that result and a game that proved one step too many for them to overcome.
With his players hat still on, Hennessy recalls that it was the preparations for the game that did the damage as opposed to the busy schedule of games themselves, "I think the games were fine. I don't think the games are a problem. I think remembering back, it never leaves me. The Tuesday night, we had an open training session in the Fraher Field and we had a game amongst ourselves and it was a helter-skelter kind of a game and I remember thinking this is probably not what we need you know, it was the Tuesday after we beat Cork in the replay and it was more that we probably did too much in the build-up to the Limerick game rather than the games themselves if you know what I mean"
The Ardmore clubman points out that times have changed and with the improvement in strength, conditioning and recovery these days, the stress on the body of being so active for so long probably doesn't have the same effect in 2021.
"Now they're more measured with the training they probably train more now but maybe not as full-on as they used to be so. There are professionals really guiding them now with strength and conditioning and fitness so I think maybe it's not the biggest issue nowadays that would have been 10 or 15 years ago you know"
First Day in Croke Park
Today, Shaun O' Brien will start between the sticks for Liam Cahill's team in what will be his first appearance at GAA HQ. Hennessy in similar circumstances made his Croke Park debut against Cork in 2005. Comparing like-for-like is tough with the capacity crowd of 80,000 not present, with 24,000 in attendance this afternoon.
"I was told on the Tuesday night that possibly I could be playing and then it was kind of more Friday he more or less told me I would be playing. We were up the week before, we played an in-house game in Parnell Park and we stayed up there. Justin brought us to Croke Park for just a walk around and stuff."
"I remember kind of thinking Jesus, it was daunting when it was empty and I was saying geez, I remember checking the crossbars and they seemed to be a bit higher."
"Then going up to play the following week I remember walking out and thinking it didn't seem as daunting with people in it than it did when empty - sounds strange, but it was massive when it was empty and when there was a crowd in there the pitch looked kind of smaller and normal more so"
For Hennessy, he says that again, times are different now. The Waterford players nowadays are more used to the big occasion and won't be as phased by the cavernous stadium.
"Young lads now have played in big games before they get to senior and you know we probably wouldn't be in big stadiums before we'd gone on to the senior panel so I suppose a lot of them young lads are well experienced; they'd played a lot of big games already."
Changing responsibilities
The game might have changed, but Hennessy, who's now based in Antrim says that the pressure on the goalkeepers is possibly heavier than what it was when he played. The importance of accurate puck outs and building an attacking base from the back means that netminders have a more important role in teams that they once did.
"I think shot-stopping is probably nearly the least pressure you're under now. I think it's more puck-outs is the big thing now. There is more pressure because every puckout has to be used now, whereas when I was playing; especially in our Waterford team, I had Dan and Seamus Pendergast as targets. It was more or less put on top of them and you have a good chance of winning possession."
"The shorter puck-outs started coming in near the end of my career and I kind of found it hard to get used to that. At the end of your time, you kind of try to change your game completely, but you wouldn't be comfortable. All the young lads now are being brought up with the short puck-outs and finding their man. But at the same time, it's like a free-taker - there'll be days where they just won't go right for you. You won't nail the mid-range puck-outs or the short puck-outs or whatever you want to call them."
Pressure
"There definitely is more pressure now on a keeper because of the puck-outs and the amount of puck-outs you have in the game there certainly would be more pressure nowadays than there would have been our time. Our job really was to get the ball out and make days and we caught and that was it."
Hennessy does note that while shot-stopping is not as crucial as it once was for the man wearing number one on his back, it's always good when the man with the big boss can stand up and be counter - with Shaun O' Brien preventing a certain goal chance last weekend against Tipperary.
"Thank God for Sean O'Brien's shot-stopping - we have another day to look forward to"
You can hear more from Clinton on Spotify at "On The Ball with Nigel Kelly"
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4q4bGgXIHG08Am59fwYOoB?si=bd53af3c46634304
