Passage hurler Seamus Barry and An Rinn's Oisín Ó Dúnaigh will line out for The Underdogs against Waterford at the SETU Arena tonight.
"It's All Ireland final day for us," Seamus told WLR's Lár Na Páirce show. "It's massive. We can't wait for it. This is going to be the biggest game that most of us have ever played."
Over the past six months, John Allen, Jamie Wall and Claire O'Connor have trained a group of hurlers who have never played with an intercounty team in the Liam McCarthy Cup. Tonight, they will take on Waterford in Davy Fitzgerald's first match as new Déise manager.
Seamus has spoken openly about his mental health throughout the TG4 series. "My issue was always mental health. I used alcohol and drugs to try and combat that and escape. I'm definitely someone who suffers massively with depression unfortunately. With the alcohol and drugs, I found it such a release because I could escape. Everyone else was doing it around me at my age at the time. You could have ten or twelve pints and forget about things. I ended up in hospital with 27 staples in the back of my head after losing an Under 21 final. Rejection and losing, I never dealt with it. It was only when my own brother went through his troubles, I got strength from him and I was able to address it. It's a work in progress, there's no magic switch to be flicked. The more honest we are, the more accepting people will be about who we are. There's no point hiding away. We're all human, we struggle. Depression touches everybody. You have a breakup, you have someone that passes away, there'll be mourning and sadness. That's a type of depression. For some people, there's a prolonged type."
Seamus is grateful for the support he receives from family and friends. "I text my uncle Raymond, known as Lay Lay, and I said that I was struggling. He said 'just think about the thousands of people you've helped by being honest. Forget about hurling for a second.' My partner Martha is a massive part of my family. I know that I have those people to call on. I'm very close with our goalkeeper Eddy Lynch in Passage. He said 'I must have the fittest mouth in Ireland because I haven't hit a ball in the Underdogs!' I can open up to Eddy, Liam Flynn as well, John Whitty, all lads that I grew up playing with. I can text them at any time. My sister is my rock, I can go to my sister with anything when I'm feeling bad."
Throw in at the SETU Arena is at 8 o'clock.
Listen back to the full interview with Seamus Barry from WLR's Lár Na Páirce show.
