A wounded animal is a dangerous animal.
A Waterford animal is a deadly beast.
In all the Tony Kelly hysteria of four weeks, the country got caught up in Clare-mania after the Allianz League final.
They had built another side, a stronger side, and they were ready to compete for the All-Ireland again. Davy Fitzgerald had mellowed, Donal Óg’s inclusion in the backroom team was inspired and it was all coming up Banner.
They lay in the long grass grinding their teeth down in Waterford though.
A lot of people – and John Mullane – are fuming at the referee for denying Waterford a free https://t.co/BFK7mPT0EQ #GAA
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 8, 2016
They had outplayed Clare that day. They had controlled the game from start to finish and they should’ve won that league medal. They had done enough to earn it. But they were undone by individual brilliance in the last 60 seconds and they were probably undone by a referee’s indecision too.
Come this time of the year though, no-one really gives a shit about the league and Waterford rolled up to Thurles liked caged animals ready not just to inflict revenge on Clare but, more importantly, to burst into the Munster final and announce their arrival with an absolute bang on the hurling championship.
And very few were even talking about them before Sunday’s incredible 1-21 to 0-17 win – a game they led from start to finish.
75 per cent of the SportsJOE population didn’t even have them in with a sniff of emerging from their province.
But 70 more minutes of pure control and dominance, 70 minutes of merciless aggression from Derek McGrath’s outfit and, suddenly, Waterford have shown themselves as genuine All-Ireland contenders.
Where they were once sneaking under the radar, there are now great big white and blue Deise dots smearing all over those transmission screens.
Pauric Mahony is playing like he has a tractor beam from the posts to the end of his hurl.
Maurice Shanahan doesn’t seem to respect anything but his own talent and Darragh Fives was back picking Tony Kelly’s pocket one minute and then out the field spreading the ball around like he had the entire Clare team on toast.
Jamie Barron went through his usual lung-bursting shift and then you have Austin Gleeson. Lord above, Austin Gleeson.
The number six is a wrecking ball around his own 45′. He’s a steam-roller with the ball in hand and he was scaling the length of Semple Stadium like it was only a game of primary school hopscotch.
Austin Gleeson hits one from Cork, ends up over the Thurles cross bar
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 5, 2016
Beneath it all, beneath all the talent and considerable shoulders, there’s a menace about this Waterford team. There’s heart.
There’s the sort of character that’s needed to win Munster championships. After the Clare defeat the last day out, there was talk of some of the players having to turn around and head straight back down the road for a family wake.
There’s playing for the cause and then there’s having just one cause in this lifetime.
Right now, Waterford are on a mission.
They were sucker-punched four weeks ago and they came to Thurles to make damn sure that would never happen to them again.
The way they’re going, it could be a long time before they’re caught like that again. The way they’re going, it could be a long time before they’re stopped again.
Waterford are here. And Waterford are ready.
