![\"A](\"http:\/\/conorpower.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/09\/parts_of_the_hurley-150x150.jpg\" "\\"parts_of_the_hurley\\"")
<\/a>A Hurley<\/p><\/div>\n
They wouldn’t allow the issue of the hurleys.\u00a0 Believing that it was a matter of expense, Ned & Joe went to get the supply of the hurleys sponsored.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n
That was a long time ago and things have certainly moved on since then, but how far have they gone?\u00a0 Kilkenny are reaping the rewards of a system, not of a great manager.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Possibly – they’re not far off the mark.\u00a0 It would be a great coup for the Waterford county board, wouldn’t it?\u00a0 Look at what we’ve got! We’ve got the man who engineered a four-in-a-row!\u00a0 But all that business is just a three-card-trick; something that cloaks the real story and that masks the reality of the situation.\u00a0 Kilkenny deal in reality.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 As I said, we’re not far off the mark at all.<\/p>\n
We don’t actually need a fired-up screaming man from Clare to get our team going.\u00a0 We don’t need a star from outside to come in and perform his three-card-trick.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 There are people there who won’t need to be paid extravagant money either.<\/p>\n
It’s a matter of collective will and an organisation that will do it.\u00a0 Hopefully that day will come soon.<\/p>\n
“My Father: A Hurling Revolutionary, the life and times of Ned Power” is out on paperback at the end of November 2009.\u00a0 Click here<\/a> for further information, pre-order and excerpt.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ned Power was someone who always looked upon County Boards as an ineffective bunch.\u00a0 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 … Continue reading