Ned Power was someone who always looked upon County Boards as an ineffective bunch.  He probably took this as a necessary evil for most of the time, but there were times when it was of immense frustration to him.

There was one time when he was coaching the Waterford senior hurling team along with Joe McGrath back in 1991 when they asked the board for two hurleys for each senior player.  For a hurling team, hurleys are generally regarded as a necessity rather than a luxury, but that wasn’t the way that county board saw it.

A Hurley

They wouldn’t allow the issue of the hurleys.  Believing that it was a matter of expense, Ned & Joe went to get the supply of the hurleys sponsored.  They were successful – a modest amount of cash is all that was required – but even after this, the County Board still refused permission for the deal to go ahead.

That was a long time ago and things have certainly moved on since then, but how far have they gone?  Kilkenny are reaping the rewards of a system, not of a great manager.  If Brian Cody went to Waterford and started managing the Waterford team, would they also get an All-Ireland or three within a few years?  Possibly – they’re not far off the mark.  It would be a great coup for the Waterford county board, wouldn’t it?  Look at what we’ve got! We’ve got the man who engineered a four-in-a-row!  But all that business is just a three-card-trick; something that cloaks the real story and that masks the reality of the situation.  Kilkenny deal in reality.  They are one of the few counties that do and that is why they have a successful series of teams that has no equal at the moment.  If Waterford are to achieve their four-in-a-row (or even one or two in a row), then there needs to be a system put in place that will achieve that.  As I said, we’re not far off the mark at all.

We don’t actually need a fired-up screaming man from Clare to get our team going.  We don’t need a star from outside to come in and perform his three-card-trick.  The talent to create the conditions that can lead to a number of All-Ireland victories is there already and it has been there for decades.  There are people there who won’t need to be paid extravagant money either.

It’s a matter of collective will and an organisation that will do it.  Hopefully that day will come soon.

“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.  Click here for further information, pre-order and excerpt.