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.

Plaque outside Tallow's hurling field

In a well-lubricated conversation many years ago, a man once told me over and over again that there would be “a monument to that man” when talking about Ned Power.  He was alive to see it actually happen when the plaque went up outside Tallow’s GAA Field a couple of years ago.

“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.

The forthcoming biography on the life of Ned Power is one of the very few, if not the only biography of a Waterford GAA star.  Apart from book on the late John Keane, there are few efforts at getting down on paper the stories of Waterford’s hurling legends.

Ned Power in Goals in Football

Perhaps it’s the unfortunate lack of success that, relative to certain counties, Waterford have been unfortunate to experience.  Our neighbours Kilkenny have had outstanding success in recent years, culminating in a fourth successive AI title yesterday.

I’s not easy to look on and see one’s neighbours succeeding where we fail to get one title in 50 years, but the Cats are successful not because they’re lucky or because they have a system that their county structure has worked hard to create over the years.

There’s no reason why Waterford can’t do the same.  It’s a hurling county, after all, with very little football getting in the way of such a programme.  What it would require is a certain level of cooperation.  In the past, that hasn’t been there.  The great gains made in the 1957-63 period seemed to dissipate into thin air quickly afterwards and it seems incredible, even now, that it took a full thirty-nine years before the next Munster title was achieved.

“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.

Ned Power’s tireless work in the GAA was done at grass roots level and he never really got to grips with the whole idea of politicking and back-slapping that are part and parcel of the job at committee level, or at least when it gets to county level and above.

In 1960, he did reach a point in his life when he could have been an administrator.  It wasn’t to be as he was outvoted by the narrowest of margins.  But, in truth, he was not made of suitable administrative material, in my opinion.  He was far too steadfast of opinion and he would not have been able to play along with such Machiavellian moves as are necessary in such a career.

His apprenticeship in Gaelic sport at inter-county level was with a tight-knit team that rarely asked for anything in return  for their efforts and rarely got it – not even a pair of socks.  Socks were not provided by the County Board.  For the Mount Sion lads, that was all right because their socks were the same colour as those of the county team (blue and white), but for others, they had to go and buy their own socks if they wanted to be properly togged out for their county.

On the day of the All-Ireland Final (exactly 50 years ago to the day), it was the same story, despite the fact that the County Board had mooted the idea of giving the players socks for this special occasion.  However, this never came to pass, so Ned decided to wear two different coloured socks in a form of silent protest that very few actually noticed.  It’s only visible in a colour photograph, but it’s there plain as day.

“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.

The biography of Waterford hurling legend Ned Power is to be launched by the President of the GAA on November 26th next at the Park Hotel in Dungarvan.

Also officiating on the night will be WLR‘s Kieran O’Connor.

The book tells the story of the life of Ned Power – one of the most famous goalkeepers from one of the most golden eras of hurling.  It was later, as a hurling coach, that Ned Power made even more of an impact on the world of hurling as he transformed the fortunes of his home club Tallow by bringing them from zero to winning almost every single county honour in both hurling and gaelic football.  He assisted in many clubs around Munster and around the country too, bringing successful results and energy wherever he went.

It’s written from a very personal perspective by his son, so it covers many more aspects of the man’s character apart from the GAA one.  That said, it was GAA that dominated his life and devotion like that of Ned’s was always perhaps a bit of a rarity.  In today’s world, it’s probably rarer still.

But that’s what is unique about what Ned Power did – he did not go around counting up his achievements and he never wanted to be compensated for his efforts.  Nowadays, it’s common for coaches to get €150-€200 per session or even more, but Ned’s attitude was that he didn’t want to make himself available to the highest bidder and he wasn’t interested in the money.  As far as he was concerned, the money was something that sullied the whole enterprise.

“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.

Alas, this senior All-Ireland will be without Waterford this time, even though it will be 50 years to the day since the scheduled final where Ned Power et al overcame a Kilkenny side after a replay.

Smaller logos but bigger men?

This time, it’s Tipperary who will have their work cut out for them.

I’m sure they’re looking forward to it.  Compared to Waterford, Tipperary have a much more successful history of winning All-Irelands.  Not for them, the nagging doubt that no matter what we do, we just can’t win it.  No – Tipp, I think, are a team who will be well prepared.  Or at least I think so.

I would go so far as to stick the old neck out and predict a Tipperary win.  They’ll win because they’re brimming with confidence and because their speed and accuracy will trouble Kilkenny too much for them to able to cope.

This great Kilkenny team is, simply put, not the all-conquering impressive machine that it was last season.  It has weak links; links which were exposed with almost fatal consequences in their semi-final battle with Waterford.  Henry Shefflin’s excellent performance in that game kept the Deise just about at arms length, but Waterford are not as good as the Tipperary team just now and if it weren’t for a few costly slips in concentration, that game could very well have an extremely close contest.

Whatever the outcome, I would dearly love to see the day again when team shirts displayed something that players could feel proud of wearing – truly proud of wearing.  When you look back ten years even, the logos were placed there almost discreetly so as not to be too offensive.  Go back further to my father’s time and there is no  logo to be seen.  The only thing those men wore on their shirts was the Waterford crest.  I take my hat off to men who can take themselves seriously when they’re going around with huge letters written cartoon-fashion across their chest advertising some yoghurt drink.

Wouldn’t it be a lovely gesture from the GAA if they would just allow the teams on the final day to come, just for once, wearing their jerseys – just the jerseys and not the sandwich board.  I’m sure it could be negotiated.  Here’s to dreaming of a “no-logo” final.

“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.

Even though Waterford hurlers won an All-Ireland senior final in 1948, the county’s golden era was that from 1957 to 1963.

During this period, Waterford were competing for full honours.  They played in three All-Ireland finals.  Of those they won one, they should have won three and they very very nearly lost all three.  As it turned out, the one in the middle (1959) was the one in which they were successful. Even though they were expected to win it, they somehow conspired to let it all unravel as it was Kilkenny who got a goal-blitz that day (Sept 6th, 1959) with the normally reliable backs having an off day.

Thankfully, my father – the goalkeeper Ned Power – wasn’t held to blame for the goals.  The analysis was that he didn’t get enough protection from the backs.  Only a goal in the last minute from Seamus Power saved the day.  The Deise men played a lot of “backs and forwards” for the replay in an early October day of unseasonal sunshine and no mistake was made then.

All three finals were against Kilkenny and it was they who won against the odds on the other two occasions in that period when Waterford were in an AI final.  In 1963, they had a great year, winning the Oireachtas and the League, but it was something of a swansong for that team and the Deise’s fortunes dipped fairly quickly after that, not recovering to those same heights until recent years.  In fact, when they won the League two seasons ago, it was their very first since 1963.

Incredible, but true.

“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.

In May 1963, my older brother Sean was born.  In another extract from the forthcoming biography on Ned Power “My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary”, here’s an insight into how hurling matches marked some of the more monumental events in his life.

My grandmother, it must be said, idolised my father.  To her, he was as perfect a son-in-law as you could get:  he was handsome, charming, diligent, hard-working, healthy, he had a reputable steady occupation and fine standing in the community and he wasn’t a drinker.  She readily forgave any of dad’s transgressions and would plead with my mother to do likewise, if and when the occasion called for it.

That evening, Julia had a very anxious wait.  She had her hands full looking after a little toddler and her daughter was in hospital hoping to give birth again.  The hours ticked by.  Ned’s game was at seven, which means it would be over at eight, which means that, failing incident, her son-in-law would be home no later than half past nine or ten o’clock.

As ten o’clock came and went, my grandmother began to feel certain that Dad must have visited the hospital.  The sooner he was back from there, the greater the likelihood was that everything had gone smoothly.  At eleven o’clock, my father’s Ford Anglia pulled up on the street outside.  Granny rushed to the door, opened it and stood there awaiting some news from my father.  He was calmly removing hurleys and gear from the boot.

“Well?” she finally said.  “Is there any news?”

My father looked startled for a moment.

“What?  Oh yes… We got beaten!  And I broke my best hurley off Mackey McKenna.”

“No, no… What about Gretta?  Did you hear any news about Gretta and the baby?”

My father, nonplussed and with complete confidence in a successful birth and in everyone being in good health just said something like:  “I’m sure it’s fine.  Sure, we’ll give the hospital a ring there.”

He rang the hospital and was informed that everything was fine, that he was now the proud father of a baby boy and that both mother and child were doing well.  He looked to my grandmother and said:  “There you are – a baby boy.  They’re both grand.”

“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.

This photo, scanned from the Tipperary Star newspaper, was taken at the Munster Final in 1963.  In a low-scoring game which was characterised by a dogged if not terribly impressive display by Waterford and a lot of missed opportunities by Tipperary, was significant in that Waterford had beaten their bogeymen of Tipperary and were expected to push on and win the All-Ireland Final in a year in which they had already been crowned League Champions.

Action Shot from Munster Final Vs Tipperary, August 1963

In the picture, you can see my father Ned Power awaiting the dropping ball while his defender tries to stop the in-rushing forward who seems more interested (at least from this angle) in taking the man than the ball.

“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.

GAA sporting biographies are a regular sight, particularly coming towards the end of the year, when Santa Claus – a renowned sporting fan, particularly fond Waterford hurlers I’m told – is wondering what he should stock in his sack.

There seems to be a lack of content out there when it comes to the Waterford hurling heroes.  I know that a relative of the late John Keane is currently writing a book on the life of the man who is considered by many to have been the greatest Waterford hurler of all time.  He was on the team that won the senior All-Ireland in 1948 and was also the official trainer of the team that won the All-Ireland in 1959.

Apart from that, I have not yet come across any others.  Both that and the one on Ned Power have not yet been published so there is something of a vacuum of information when it comes to Waterford sports stars and books about them.

Perhaps nobody wants to read about them and people want, instead to read about hurling stars of the present, such as Donal Og or Brian Cody or Henry Shefflin.  Or, people want to read about great stars of the past such as Christy Ring, about whom Tim Horgan wrote a good biography.

Given Waterford’s success over the last 10 years (and it has been the longest period of success since the 57-63 era, despite the lack of an All-Ireland crown), there is a growing band of admirers of Waterford hurlers.  Everyone loves a game underdog, which is Waterford has been in the AI championship up to now, and everyone loves a bit of nostalgia.  Many commentators would say that we are in a bit of a golden era of hurling at the moment and that the 1950s and 1960s was another such era.

“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.