As everyone knows, this man loves his county so much.
One underestimates John Mullane when saying he played with his heart on his sleeve. The former Déise forward was as passionate and committed to the cause as they come and he was not shy about letting everyone know.
The De La Salle clubman was a fantastic guest on SportsJOE Live ahead of Waterford’s All-Ireland semi final clash with Cork and some of his recollections were pure class. He spoke with great empathy and sense on current, strict drinking bans imposed by certain counties and praised fellow guest Stephen Hunt as the best hurler Waterford never had.
However, and the subject of getting pumped up for big hurling occasions, Mullane came into his own. His tale about going buck mad before a crucial game against Dublin sums the man up to a tee. Waterford would have found themselves in a Division 1A relegation playoff had they fallen to the Dubs but Mullane was not having it.
Mullane recalled:
“I had to get pumped up [before games] and when I was pumped up I was at my best. Other players are different but if I was calm, I mightn’t hit a ball. Now I was in the dressing room and I’d be f***ing banging tables, I’d be breaking things, slapping myself.
“There’s one funny story and it was when we were going out to play Dublin in a league game in 2012, my last year. We were on the verge of being relegated and we had to win this game. It was only my second game back and the dressing room was like a morgue.
“I came in and saw it and was like, ‘F*** these jackeen c****! Come on now! Let’s f***ing tear into them. Get up. Come on now, get the f*** up!’
“And I was banging the table, banging it and going, ‘F*** these c**** now. Tear into them!’ With that, I just went bang and I heard Roger going, ‘Ah f*** ya, me finger!’“
“Roger Casey, the kitman, my hurley came down and caught his finger,” Mullane continued.
“He had to get the finger tended to and I think he had fractured it. We went out [onto the pitch then] but the whole dressing room burst out with laughter. I was white in the face.
“I remember doing the warm-up and all I could think about was, ‘Is Roger okay? Is Roger okay?’
“He came out after a while and was holding his hand against his chest. I went over to him and asked if he was okay. He looked and me and went, ‘Do I look okay, do I?!’
“I told him I was sorry and he said, ‘Just go and win the match’.”
For the first 20 to 25 minutes of the match, Mullane admits that he didn’t catch a ball. Thankfully for himself, Casey and Waterford he ‘came alive’ in the second half and started to contribute scores as Dublin were beaten 0-17 to 0-13.
All’s well that ends with a fractured finger, and apology and a Waterford win…
