Mullaney frustrated by three week wait for knockout start

By Enda Treacy

There’s a sense of déjà vu about Tipperary and Waterford as these two teams look set to lock horns at the quarter-final stage for the third time in four years and Tipperary manager Bill Mullaney is fully aware of the challenge ahead.

“I think this could be the third year we faced them, yeah,” Mullaney said.

A three-week gap between the end of the group stages and knockout camogie is somewhat of a sticking point for Mullaney, who believes that it was needless for such a prolonged break.

“We’re looking forward to it but look, the three-week gap was a bit too long. You could have played it a lot sooner. I just don’t get it. It really beggars' logic, never mind belief.

“You know, a two-week break and you could have played it, and then the semi-final could have been on this weekend coming.

“The final isn’t until September 12th so it has a knock-on effect on clubs as well and I just feel the whole thing could have been done an awful lot quicker,” he reaffirmed.

The form so far in the championship has been encouraging for Mullaney and his charges and feels that the interim time spent on the sidelines has given them some time to prepare for the remainder of the year as they face knockout camogie.

“We’re training well and playing well but we can’t ever take anything for granted,” he acknowledged.

“Waterford have been a tough task every year we’ve played them.

“The scores might tell you we’ve run out easy winners in some of the games, but we had to work hard during those games and earn everything against them.

“But we're eager to get the draw straight into the semi-final. There was no benefit to us winning the group for a finish. I think we’ve been first out every year since I’ve been in charge.

“Look, we’ll either be lucky or unlucky but we’re faced with the same issue now anyway, but we still wanted to win the group and we deserve to be there.”

And what a difference a year can make as there are no major injuries doubt around the squad currently, aside from the absence of Sarah Fryday who opted off the panel just after the league campaign, as Mullaney recalls the carnage of the physio room after the Waterford game last year.

“We have small niggles and knocks but no major injuries at the minute. So, we can’t really complain from that side of things,” he revealed.

“I mean, this time last year we had four or five injuries last year, and we had Orla (O’Dwyer) going away, Ashling Moloney suspended and injured. We were going into the semi-final with a very depleted panel.

“We want a performance on the day to put us in good shape if we are facing into a semi-final. All the clichés you use like working hard and commitment all come into play, but I will be clear in saying that one-point will do.”