Waterford manager James O’Connor has called for the All-Ireland Minor Hurling final to be returned as the curtain-raiser for the senior decider.

His team will face Clare in the All-Ireland Minor final at Semple Stadium this Saturday evening, but he’d prefer to see it played at Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.

For the last five years the minor deciders have been played as stand-alone fixtures, with the GAA saying that decision was to help ease the pressure on the players.

O’Connor says he believes the association are being ‘over protective’, and that exposure to the big occasion can help them develop.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, the Deise boss said: ” I think you can be protecting too much to be honest. Protecting them? What’s going to happen when they get to 19 or 20? They’re going to be open to it then anyway. Young lads now, they don’t think too much into anything. They’re on their phones going to the game, they’re at the game and they go in and play. I guarantee you if you asked any one of those minors would they love to play before the All-Ireland senior? One hundred per cent, they’d all say yes. We have primary school lads going in at half-time playing in front of 35 or 40 thousand.”

The Lismore man was part of the Deise minor squad that played the 1992 minor decider at GAA HQ.

“What I don’t really love is going to a big venue and maybe only 10,000 people going to it and more than half the place is empty, I think it takes from it a little bit. You should either play before the senior and get a big crowd in there or else you go to a smaller venue and pack it out. It’s an unbelievable experience for a lad to go out and play in front of a big crowd.”

“If he has ambition to go on and be a senior player, there’s days that you’re going to be playing in front of 40 or 50 thousand people so why not at minor?”

WLR will bring you the game LIVE this Saturday thanks to George Corbett Cupra – join Kieran O’Connor and Sean Power for LIVE commentary from 5pm.

Our coverage will begin at 3-5pm – you can join Jordan Norris and our all-star panel LIVE from the Thurles Sarsfields GAA Grounds from 3-5pm thanks to Clem Jacob Hire.

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