Gerald Mc Carthy (hurler) - Managing Waterford

Managing Waterford

McCarthy remained out of inter-county coaching for several years before returning as manager of the Waterford senior hurlers on November 16, 1996. At the time Waterford were not a major force in the hurling world, however, other hurling ‘minnows’ such as Offaly, Clare and Wexford had won All-Ireland titles in the mid-1990s. McCarthy’s appointment as manager was a signal of intent. He was initially appointed for a three year term and had a simple plan. In year one the team would target a good campaign in the National Hurling League. McCarthy’s plan for his second year in charge included provincial success while an All-Ireland title would be claimed in the third year. This was an ambitious plan for a county that hadn't had any sort of inter-county success since 1963.

In his first year in charge McCarthy introduced a new regime immediately. He cut players that weren’t pulling their weight and the training regime became harder than ever before. In the end McCarthy’s plans proved too ambitious. Waterford lost at home to Dublin and failed to win promotion from Division Two of the National League. In their opening game of the championship a Limerick team in decline beat them by six points and Waterford’s campaign ended unceremoniously.

In his second year in charge McCarthy and his backroom team upped the ante. Training became more difficult, with early morning sessions becoming the norm, while players were each given their own personal nutrition plan, something of a novelty at the time. McCarthy’s side made significant progress in the National League and even reached the final. A 2-14 to 0-13 defeat by Cork was their lot in that game. The provincial championship saw McCarthy’s side defeat Tipperary for the first time in fifteen years and reach the Munster final for the first time in almost a decade. History weighed even more heavily against the team as Waterford hadn't won a provincial title for thirty-five years. That game between Clare and Waterford surprisingly ended in a draw, however, a last-gasp Paul Flynn free which could have won the game went wide. Clare remained favourites to win on the second occasion; however, the replay was a tense affair. The match was played in exceedingly bad spirit as Clare’s Brian Lohan and Waterford’s Michael White were both shown red cards after a melee. A dirty game drew to its natural conclusion as Clare were the eventual winners. Waterford, however, still had a second chance for the All-Ireland title due to the ‘back-door’ system. A ten-point defeat of Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final set up an All-Ireland semi-final meeting with Kilkenny. Waterford, however, followed a great performance with a mediocre one and, in a game which was there for the taking, allowed ‘the Cats’ to win by just a single point on a score line of 1-11 to 1-10.

1999 saw Waterford open their championship campaign with a fine victory over Limerick. The subsequent Munster semi-final saw McCarthy's men take on his own native-county of Cork. Few people gave Cork a chance against the beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists of 1998, however, a six-point victory for 'the Rebel's ended Waterford's involvement in the championship for another year. By this stage the rot was setting in as player discipline was breaking down with regard to training and diet. At the end of the year former Tipperary player Colm Bonnar was introduced as the new trainer, however, he faced similar problems to his predecessor.

In 2000 championship hurling began and ended on the same day as far as Waterford was concerned. In the Munster quarter-final Tipperary unceremoniously dumped McCarthy’s side out of the competition.

In 2001 success with Waterford seemed as far away as ever for McCarthy as the promise of earlier seasons had all but disappeared. In the Munster semi-final his side surrendered an eleven-point lead to Limerick and lost by three. This defeat brought the curtain down on McCarthy's tenure as manager of the team.