Former Waterford hurling star Jim Greene highlights a significant issue within Waterford's underage hurling system. He points to a lack of success at minor and U20 levels as evidence of a deeper problem, stating that Waterford hasn't won many underage matches since 2017. This underperformance, he argues, stems from insufficient investment in youth structures, resulting in a lack of depth in the senior team.
Greene contrasts Waterford's situation with other Munster counties like Tipperary and Cork, which have invested heavily in their underage programs and consequently achieved considerable success. He emphasizes that Waterford's issues cannot be solely attributed to competition format, but rather to fundamental deficiencies in its youth development system.
Greene stresses the need for significant financial investment and time commitment to improve underage development. He cautions against expecting the senior team management to overcome these structural deficiencies, emphasizing that building a successful team requires a solid foundation at the youth level. He also raises concerns about the future of the team once the current generation of players retires, lacking sufficient young talent to fill the void.
In essence, Greene's argument advocates for a comprehensive overhaul of Waterford's underage hurling structures, calling for immediate action to address the systemic issues hampering the county's ability to produce competitive teams. The lack of depth in the team is seen as a direct consequence of years of inadequate investment, ultimately impacting Waterford's success at the senior level.
Former Waterford star Jim Greene has called for a major financial investment in the county’s under-age hurling structures in the wake of another short inter-county season.
The statistics are stark. In the six seasons of Munster’s round-robin format, the seniors have not qualified from it, winning just four of 24 games. The Déise have lost 12 consecutive championship games at U20 level, while their last win against a team other than Kerry was in 2016 when they went onto win U21 Munster and All-Ireland honours.
The minors face Limerick in an All-Ireland quarter-final in Thurles on Sunday and their three provincial wins and Munster final appearance has been a shot in the arm. The Waterford County Board are almost halfway through a 10-year strategic plan that pays considerable attention to developing players.
However, Greene fears not enough is being done compared to what the other Munster hurling counties have been putting into their youth. “Waterford’s problem is deeper than a competition format,” said the 1982 All-Star. “Waterford’s problem is our under-age structures. I mean, what have we won at minor or U20? In the early '90s, we were making a shot at these things. We were winning Munsters and an All-Ireland and there was 2016 as well.
“Since 2017, I’d say you could count the number of matches we have won at under-age on one hand. That’s eight years and that’s where the issues are. You can’t build a house by putting a roof on first, it doesn’t work like that.
“We have to sit down and look deeply at our structures and the way we go about things. We have to develop more time and money to the next generations and other counties in Munster are proving it. Tipperary are U20 Munster champions for the second year in a row. Cork have been U20 All-Ireland champions.
“We’re up against that and we’re not doing ourselves because we’re not doing justice to ourselves in Waterford. Clare and Limerick have put in big structures too and have reaped the rewards but it didn’t happen overnight.”
Simply expecting the senior team management to transform players is asking too much, Greene insisted. He applauded the work done by Peter Queally and his group this team this year in earning promotion to Division 1A and coming within a win of making the knock-out stages of the All-Ireland SHC.
“We have to stop expecting people like Peter to go in there and work miracles. He doesn’t really have the bullets to fire. There are some very good young players in Waterford but they are not being brought through the right way. Whatever is there at the moment is not enough and it needs to be addressed so we can get back up there.
“Like, it’s ’59 since our last All-Ireland – nearly 70 years. The only way to rectify it is to cure the cause. Cork on Sunday brought on lads who would be on the Waterford team. I’m not criticising any individual but it’s a fact. We don’t have the depth. I thought Peter Queally and the lads this year got the very best out of what they had. They could have done little more with the lads.”
Greene wonders what will follow the All-Ireland U21 class of 2016 that featured Stephen and Shane Bennett, Austin Gleeson, Conor Prunty and Patrick Curran when they and the likes of Jamie Barron and Tadhg de Búrca retire.
“We don’t have enough of them. We had a similar situation in my playing time, we didn’t have a big team and we didn’t win anything either.”
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