The Words of Ned Power
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NED POWER The Words of Ned Power Discipline – A Vital Element In Sport .......................................................................... 1 Discipline........................................................................................................................ 4 The Different Hurling Styles .......................................................................................... 6 Clare’s Achievements ................................................................................................. 8 Professional Preparation............................................................................................ 10 Professionalism ............................................................................................................ 12 Justin Case .................................................................................................................. 14 Free Taking .................................................................................................................. 16 Free Taking .................................................................................................................. 18 Free Taking and Eddie Keher ................................................................................... 20 Eddie Keher................................................................................................................. 22 The Late Ted Carroll ................................................................................................... 24 Ringing The Changes................................................................................................. 26 Mistakes and Misfortunes .......................................................................................... 28 Cork v Waterford ........................................................................................................ 30 Gormanston ................................................................................................................ 32 Gormanston Hurling ................................................................................................... 34 The Great Ollie Walsh of Kilkenny ............................................................................ 36 Hurling Changes ......................................................................................................... 38 The Brothers ................................................................................................................. 41 Waterford V Tipperary ............................................................................................... 43 Féile Na nGael 1996................................................................................................... 46 Féile Assessment ......................................................................................................... 48 Hurling Skills .................................................................................................................. 51 A Northern Light, U-16 Hurlers Visit to Tyrone a Huge Success............................. 54 More Provincial Final Thoughts ................................................................................. 58 Born Hurlers .................................................................................................................. 61 Rewards And Awards ................................................................................................ 64 Tactics .......................................................................................................................... 66 Under – 21 Hurling Thoughts...................................................................................... 69 A Tale of Two Managers............................................................................................ 72 Refereeing................................................................................................................... 75 Hurling Styles................................................................................................................ 78 Discipline – A Vital Element In Sport July 12, 1996 Ah sure it’s old fashioned now this discipline crack. In the present age of wonder and enlightenment and modern thinking we are urged to express ourselves, to do our own thing regardless of conventions or practices; to be uninhibited by laws and ordinances, customs or traditions. This disastrous present day agenda of phoney freedom has made life much more difficult for families where one time discipline shaped, regulated and promoted, standards of behaviour. Now in most cases young children are so accustomed to having every wish acceded to and every whim indulged that they find it almost impossible to accept unpalatable realities such as pain or disappointments. Nor is it easy for them to say no to what is socially or morally wrong. Gratitude and respect were early victims of this loosening of moral strings and consequently this attitude encourages selfishness and self-indulgence and makes it very difficult for young people to fact any situation where self-control and discipline must be exercised. In team games like hurling and football discipline is a vital element. No success is possible if that essential ingredient is missing. It begins with training. Without regular training no player, however physically endowed, will realise his full potential. Within the training session there has to be order and subordination, correction and instruction which many present day players must find difficult to cope with, given the multiplicity of soft options available nowadays. Only those who have shared a tough training schedule fully appreciate the enormous benefits accruing to them from this. There is a strengthening of character, a heightening of team spirit, an increase in morale, a bonding of those who share the hardships of rigorous preparation. Thus evolves the team which refuses to entertain the notion of defeat because hardship and suffering endured and shared add an extra dimension to any team. Take the present Limerick team. Their overall skill level isn’t very high and I don’t know if they will win an All Ireland or even a Munster title because of the stern obstacles to be surmounted to achieve those goals. What I do know is that they set out early this year to follow Clare’s example and push themselves collectively through the pain barrier. Last year Clare’s stamina-training torture chamber was the Hills of Crusheen. Dave Mehedy, Limerick’s Trainer, found its counterpart in the steep gradients of Maguire’s Field, part of the University of Limerick complex. Excruciating nights of soul-destroying slogging there in February, March and April built up Limerick for the devastation of Cork in the championship at Pairc Ui Chaoimh. Even if it is agreed that Clare played the best of the hurling for most of the Munster semi-final, Limerick’s indefatigable self-belief drove them inexorably on to that super one- point win over the Banner in a game which, it could be claimed, they scarcely deserved to win. No wonder their war-cry beforehand was “Remember Maguire’s Field!” Last Sunday they showed even better than they did against Clare what absolute conviction they possess in their own worth. In 1962 Jack Fraser took over the training of the Waterford Senior Hurling team. Jack was a methodical conscientious trainer who had an enthusiasm for his job which was infectious and he put the panel through a very demanding course of training. My only regret is that he didn’t begin with the panel much earlier in the year. Had he started with us in February, I’m quite satisfied that we would have won the All Ireland because the stamina work would have borne fruit in mid summer. Jack was a disciplinarian. As Dick Stokes said to me about Mick Cregan (Eamonn’s brother) “they were like calves running up to him if he rattled the bucket”. But Jack never enforced a sterile rigid discipline. He was positive and very well organised and we all felt a great shared mental strength and sense of well being after his sessions. We had a memorable victory over Cork in Thurles but in the Munster Final against Tipperary in Limerick we were a bit lethargic and couldn’t seem to get going. Perhaps too much work a little too late in the season. Ned Power Page 1 In October of that same year, however, we met our neighbours Tipperary once more. It was the Oireachtas final at Croke Park at a time when this competition enjoyed a high profile. It was a great game, the magnificent crowd providing great atmosphere, and best of all we won with some style. The sweeping groundstrokes of our forwards never let Tipperary enjoy the type of close physical contest they yearned for. Although he was on the defeated team Donie Nealon always claimed that it was the best hurling match he had ever played in. All, I have no doubt, mostly due to Jack Fraser and his disciplined preparation, the effect of which was exemplified on that Autumn Sunday when Waterford won its only Oireachtas title. The residue of fitness acquired under Jack carried us on to the League and All Ireland finals of 1963. Discipline for a player doesn’t begin when the referee throws in the ball but much earlier. It’s really an attitude or approach inculcated over a period. It starts when he organizes himself to ensure that he can be present at training regularly. It continues when he packs his playing gear and makes sure to arrive on time for each session. His willingness to readily comply with the trainer’s demands further advances his growth of