By John Harrington

Waterford midfielder Kevin Moran admits he doesn’t know whether Derek McGrath will stay on as manager of the Deise hurlers for the 2017 season.

McGrath has taken charge of the team for the last four championship campaigns, but as of yet has not declared whether he wants to remain in the position for a fifth.

“I genuinely don’t know and I’m not bypassing that question,” said Moran. “I really hope so. We’ll just see what happens the next few weeks.

“He's looking forward to taking a bit of down time with the family I think. He's back in work and just looking forward to a bit of normality. Leave him to himself for a few weeks because that's what he likes.

“I'm not going to be annoying him and I don't think any of the lads would be asking him silly questions. He needs time to make up his mind.”

Moran teaches in De La Salle College in Waterford with McGrath, but hasn’t asked him about his plans for 2018.

“I’ve seen him out and about in the school and things like but, straight up, I wouldn’t talk to him about that. Everyone wants their space.

“We would talk about everything else: hurling or the club or things like that. I’m sure he’s the same as we all are, if not more so. It’s very raw for him, I’m sure.

“We just have to give him time and space to clear his head. There’s plenty of time.”

Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh is another man Waterford hurling supporters will hope to see again in 2018.

The 34-year-old excelled in the Championship this year, and Moran believes he has enough still in the tank to hurl on at the highest level again for another season.

“He should because he had a fantastic year, an absolutely fantastic year.

“That is his own decision, there are things outside of hurling that are hugely important to him as well and that he has to analyse, things like that.

“I would love to give an answer but I don’t know. He has been as good as ever, definitely."

Moran admits he’s still processing the disappointment of Wateford’s defeat to Galway in the All-Ireland SHC Final just over two weeks ago.

“It’s still raw, hugely disappointing,” he says. “There was a great atmosphere in the county throughout the summer and leading up to the final but at the end of the day we probably just weren’t good enough on the day. Galway were more economical on the day.

“I had a fairly simple wide myself in the second-half but if you go down that route you would drive yourself demented.

“You just have to put it to one side for the time being and maybe come back and analyse it, if ever, to be honest. You have to get back to the club and enjoy it. Take a bit of time off. Recharge the batteries and start again.

“It is disappointing but there are lots of fond memories out there as well. It’s ultimately about trying to bridge a huge gap and win the Liam MacCarthy. We just fell a small bit short this year.”

As disappointing as the defeat was, Moran admits there are far more positives to take from the experience for Waterford than after their previous All-Ireland Final appearance in 2008 when they were hammered by Kilkenny.

“It's completely different,” he said. “’08 was embarrassing to be straight up. Your head was down. It was the worst six weeks ever to be honest with you.

“I think there's a lot more...this time around, even though the result is the same, I think there's a lot more pride I suppose associated with the team.

“There's a good (feeling), you know, that the county and everyone has rowed in behind the team and Derek which can only be a positive thing going forward for the next few years.”