Mullane's looking to make capital gains

All-Ireland SH quarter-final: It's easy to understand why people talk about Waterford's poor record in Croke Park. They played well there in 1998 to beat Galway in the All-Ireland quarter-final yet, prior to that, their last win of any significance in Croke Park was the 1963 league final.

Improving that record provides much of the motivation going into Sunday's All-Ireland quarter-final against Tipperary. There's also the small matter of reversing the defeat handed out by Tipperary in the Munster semi-final, while proving that Waterford are indeed serious All-Ireland contenders.

Not that forward John Mullane needs reminding of any of that. To him the motivation is equally clear, which is why Waterford are clearly relishing their latest visit to Croke Park.

"Most of this team has never won a match in Croke Park, that's a fact," he says.

"And until we do people will keep on talking about that. We know to become a really good team you have to win in Croke Park, so hopefully we can change that now.

"And we're quite happy to get Tipp again. They're after dishing a defeat on us this year, so maybe we can dish one back to them. And I suppose, yeah, there was a bit of disbelief going in that Munster semi-final.

"I was injured, so was Ken McGrath, and then Eoin Kelly, probably our best player, was missing. On any given day I think Eoin Kelly can be the best hurler in Ireland.

"The belief at half-time was that we could still beat them, if we could get the scores, but it was just too little too late. But the qualifiers went well for us. I've put in a big effort since, the whole team has, and we've had a good four or five weeks behind us now. So we don't mind playing Tipp again, no. We'll definitely have to up our game again, and I've doubt no we will."

To say the qualifiers "went well" for Waterford is a slight understatement. They produced one of their best performances in recent years to beat Galway in round two (even if they hit 19 wides), the victory that ensured they topped the group and avoided the provincial champions.

"The Galway win was important," admits Mullane. "We hadn't had a big win like that in two years, and that was important, especially in front of the home crowd. It was great for the confidence. And the quarter-finals is always where we wanted to be, and I suppose, compared to other years, we do have some momentum behind us.

"Munster medals are nice, and most of this team have two now, but the All-Ireland is the big one we want. The way a lot of people look at it now, the Munster championship is a totally different competition, and the real business starts in July. So we're happy to be there now, three games away from winning the All-Ireland."

Things have changed since their semi-final meeting back on June 4th. Mullane is fully fit again after the arm injury limited his role the last day, as is McGrath, and Kelly is back from suspension. Paul Flynn is still troubled with a leg muscle injury and almost certainly won't start, but the bookmakers can hardly separate them this time. And if anything Waterford will start as marginal favourites.

Mullane still has two steel plates in his right arm, the result of the broken ulna bone sustained playing for his club De La Salle in April, yet he will definitely be a different player in Croke Park on Sunday to the one who came on as a substitute in the semi-final with Tipperary.

"Strength-wise it's a lot better. I was out for six weeks, and that was hard. I was only back the Thursday night before the Tipp game, and knew in my head I wasn't match fit. But the break probably did me no harm either. It got me refreshed and I definitely have the appetite and hunger for it now."

With his confidence high - he hit four great points against Galway - and the team practically back to full strength, Mullane doesn't seem to mind the talk of All-Irelands that still hovers above Waterford: "Well we've gone out to win it every year. A county like Waterford, a real hurling county, will always have the players to win it, but we know we won't have a better chance than the next year or two to win it.

"I think the feeling is we have to try and grasp it this year more than any other. So we're going to Croke Park on Sunday as the first in three games it's going to take to win the All-Ireland. We'll give it our best shot, and hopefully we'll succeed.

"And I feel if any team deserves an All-Ireland it's probably us, but we know it's not going to be given to us. We have to win it ourselves."