Senior Hurlers
The senior hurlers continued their efforts under Liam Cahill and Mikey Bevans, having reached Croke Park in December of 2020. The all-conquering Treaty with John Kiely at the helm proved too strong - as they would once again do in 2021 - but it was an All-Ireland, a first once since 2018 and a first trip to the decider in Cahill's first year in charge.
The Tipp native began the year by expanding his squad with five new faces, but he had commented that given his time back he would have rang the change for that clash with Limerick at GAA HQ.
The Deise side claimed three All-Stars for their years work, with Tadhg de Búrca, Jamie Barron, and Stephen Bennett all picking up gongs.
With those awards in the bag, the team's sights had been set on going one better than the year that had proceeded.
Allianz League
The league kicked off for Waterford in Cork, where the home team couldn't be controlled, going goal happy in the second half. Former Deise boss Michael Ryan cautioned that patience would be needed as "It was the first game of the season and it's hard to know where you are the first game of the season. From Waterford's point of view, they had a new goalkeeper in, they were missing Tadhg De Burca who is a huge player, and had a completely new midfield pairing. They had a couple of key guys missing and they were looking at a few new players. The difference was that Cork hit a golden spell and lashed in three goals."
When Westmeath came to Walsh Park the following week, Cahill shuffled his deck with 12 new faces starting on the day. Most people expected a routine beating of the Lake County, but the visitors made it anything but easy.
Attentions turned to the All-Ireland Champions for round three. For the first time in the league, three brothers started for the Deise with all the Bennett's named by Cahill.
While the league games had taken on a very much "challenge match" feel, with some very stop-start officiating, this repeat of the 2020 All-Ireland felt a lot more like the games we had come to know.
The team would be back on the road for their next outing. They went to Salhtill where Galway were too strong on the day, winning 4-28 v 3-23. Following that penultimate game of the Allianz League, it was Tipperary who came to Waterford with Cahill once again looking to his squad for what players could make an impact. Indeed an impact was made, Cahill's charges beat his home county 2.29 to 3.21 to remain unbeaten at Walsh Park in his tenure and also gave Tipp their first loss in the calendar year.
Championship
It wasn't the start that the management would have wanted in the showpiece competition. The draw had not been kind, and unlike in 2020 when they went straight to a semi-final, this year, they would have to take the scenic route starting in Thurles with Clare. While the long road had to be taken, they would also have to do it the hard way as some key players were unavailable for selection.
Slow to get into the game - it wasn't to be for Waterford. Clare had too much, and despite a late fightback from Cahill's men, they left Thurles knowing that the Munster final would be off the cards and the All-Ireland qualifiers route would be their only hope of making it back to Croke Park.
The manager was left to rue his side's performance, and much like after the All-Ireland he noted the disappointment with some players who had not performed on the day. Former All-Star Dan Shanahan called for an old-fashioned training ground session to get the players back in the right mindset while former manager Derek McGrath backed Waterford to make amends for their early disappointment.
Make amends they did - but not as convincingly as we would have hoped. On a scorching hot day in Nowlan Park (where Laois manager Cheddar Plunkett refused to take off his iconic wooly cap), the O'Moore County surprised everyone with their performance, but in the end, it was Waterford who prevailed and booked their place in the second round qualifier.
Cahill would once again change his starting team with Shanahan telling WLR before throw in that the last time the sides had met in the Championship was an ill-fated day in Croke Park.
Cahill's men made the trip back to Thurles for their second All-Ireland qualifier and earned their place in the quarters beating the Tribesmen 1.30 to 3.20. After the game Cahill was delighted with the pride and passion his players showed between the white stripes, "You'd have to be really proud of the players the way they showed that great character when that lead slipped back to two or three points with five minutes to go. A team of lesser quality and heart could have been turned over. They showed it last week against Laois in Nowlan Park. Great heart, great determination. That's what I'm seeing in these players every night in training since I arrived in Waterford. That's why I was so disappointed and irate after exiting the Munster Championship because they didn't give a true reflection of themselves and their identity.
Their reward for beating Galway was a day in Cork where Cahill's home county, and fellow Tipp man Liam Sheedy were hoping to derail the Waterford train.
They beat Tipp 4-28 to 2-27 in Pairc Ui Chaoimh to book their place back in the semi final's, but for better or worse, it landed them back in a clash with Limerick.
Speaking after the Tipp result, Cahill said that the game hinged on some key moments, "That's championship hurling. Things can swing so quickly. I'd imagine it was a good entertaining game for the fans. You have to ride the punches, they come thick and fast with the quality of teams on display. We're looking forward to getting in with the players, focusing on recovery and getting them going again for six days time."
While they were back in the semi-finals, the challenge that faced the team was immense. This would be their fourth straight week playing championship hurling, and John Kielys Limerick were fresh off of their Munster final success.
Cahill would stick with the team that beat Tipp in the quarter final. Former Deise boss Justin McCarthy had voiced the opinion that Waterford needed to stand up to Limerck and not allow the physical game get the better of them, while Ardmore's Seamus Prendergast wanted to see his county come out of the traps fast to quell the Limerick surge.
While Waterford started the game with pace and grit, putting it up to Limerick in the physical stakes, it wasn't enough. John Kiely's team laid down a marker for what would be one of the great hurling campaigns. They would eventually go on to lift Liam McCarthy in one of the most dominant All-Ireland performances of this lifetime.
Following the game, Cahill was noncommital as to what his future held with Waterford. "It's two years' work. That was the initial agreement. So I think we'll just have to sit down and talk to everybody; stakeholders, committee chairman, you know, Sean Michael [O' Regan, Chairman] and Pat [Flynn, Secreatary] and all the boys that initially negotiated or chatted about what needed to happen so it's hard to know yet."
"But look, you know, these fellas are very hard to walk away from because they're a really honest bunch of fellas."
Hurling fans were left worried in the weeks that followed as the Tipperary executive confirmed that they had approached Cahill to take their top job with Liam Sheedy departing the role.
Anxious fans across the county could finally breathe a sigh of relief when Cahill announced that he would remain in situ for the next 2 months.
Liam sat down with Tomás and Nigel following the announcement for his first interview since committing to the team for another year.
Senior Footballers
The footballers got their year in Division 4 South underway with Carlow in Fraher Field. It was the first competitive game in charge for Cork native Shane Ronayne who took charge of the team in January. Losing 3.16 to 0.10 was not the start that the Cork man would have wanted, but they did follow up with a famous day in Wexford, beating the Yellowbellies 2.13 to 0.18. The league campaign ended with a 1.15 to 0.11 loss to Antrim in the Div 4 South Semifinal.
The championship campaign kicked off, and ended with Limerick. Ronayne's team made their way to the Gaelic Grounds, where the Treaty routed them 4.18 to 0.12.
While the championship was over for Waterford for another year, most thought that Ronayne was set to stay and build for 2022, but in October, the news emerged that he was leaving the role to take the job with the Cork senior ladies.
Following Ronayne's departure, Ephie Fitzgerald took the job for the next two years. In an interesting change of fortunes, it was Ronayne who took Fitzgerald's job in Cork and the same vice-versa.
Camogie
The senior team began with Derek Lyons being appointed manager for the year, setting the goal for the year early in his tenure. They got their league campaign underway against Tipperary, but were soundly beaten 2.16 to 0.11. That was followed by a loss to Cork in Walsh Park which left them in a relegation play off with Dublin. They played in Birr but didn't have enough to secure their Division 1 status, being beaten by a point by the Dubs.
Their first Championship game was with Down, with Dublin the next up. They won both those games, but fell short against Cork in Páirc Uí Rinn 2.19 to 3.08.
While Lyons had stated the goal to get past the quarter-finals, it wasn't to be in 2021. Tipperary were 0.17 t 0.11 winners in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
After their championship campaign ended, Lyons was non-commital as to what is future held, but following talks with the county board, he committed to the team for another 12 months and will be the boss for the upcoming season.
Ladies Football
Early on in 2021, the big news that broke was that Waterford Ladies Gaelic Football Association would become the first ladies county football team to fully own their own grounds outright in Ireland after years of fundraising for an 11-acre site beside the Waterford Greenway on the edge of Dungarvan at Ballinroad. Deise defender Caoimhe McGrath reminisced on how times have changed since she started playing.
Ciaran Curran's team opened their campaign with the ever-dangerous defending All-Ireland champions Dublin. The scoreline didn't make for pretty reading for Deise fans, with the Dubs running rampant 6.15 to 2.11. The tables were turned however in their next outing, it was a 5.13 to 2.12 win over Tipp that put them back on track, while their last league outing was another unfortunate loss to Cork, 2.8 to 2.11.
The championship began for the Deise with another date in Dublin. The scoreline was eerily similar to their league encounter, and not the one that Waterford would have wanted. They followed that up with a comfortable 3.17 to 0.12 victory against Tyrone to secure their place in a quarter-final with Cork. The championship story would end with Cork, with Ephie Fitzgerald's Rebelettes 14 points to 8 the better of Waterford.
Ciaran Curran would finish in the manager's role following their championship ending. He was replaced by Pat Sullivan who is taking up his second term in charge.
