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Hurling

hurling

County hurling is no piece of cake for Curran

Patrick Curran

Patrick Curran

By John Harrington

A senior inter-county apprenticeship is usually a tough one.

Very few underage stars immediately make a big impression when they graduate onto the county senior team because it’s far more physically and mentally demanding than what they’ve been used to.

Even someone as gifted as Waterford hurler Patrick Curran has found the adjustment difficult at times.

Man-of-the-match in the 2013 All-Ireland Minor Final when he scored 1-7, and outstanding again in last year’s All-Ireland U-21 Final when he notched 1-9, the senior grade has so far proven more of a slow burner.

That’s not to say he hasn’t done very well.

The 1-1 he scored against Kilkenny in the League this year was memorable, he was one of the few Waterford forwards to make any impression in last year’s Munster Final, and he’s almost always good for a score every time he pulls on the Waterford jersey whether as a starter or substitute.

But Curran is his own biggest critic and simply being good isn’t good enough as far as he’s concerned.

He’s putting himself under a lot of pressure to be the best he can be, and it sounds as though at times he’s had to wrestle with some doubts along the way.

“At times you find it very tough,” he admits. “Physically it’s very demanding.

“You’re gyming so much and you’re kind of trying to get the best out of yourself at the same time and you’re thinking it might have been too much - 'am I fresh coming into games?'

“It’s not easy, but I suppose just to persist with it when it’s not going the way you think it can for you. I think that’s a massive thing, you know.

“Yeah, definitely it does take time and I suppose my first year playing you kind of hit reality a small bit.

“When you’re coming on against Kilkenny there and you’re getting hit with challenges. You have to put time into it. It’s about getting the balance right.

“I always think that it will be the skill that will be the difference in winning and losing, rather than the physical strength. They all have the part to play but I think that the skill is the most important thing.”

Patrick Curran.

Patrick Curran.

As an underage hurler with Waterford, Curran has usually been the sharpest point of the team’s attack.

But with the senior team he isn’t afford the luxury of being chiefly viewed as an out and out finisher. Under Derek McGrath, every forward is expected to be a tradesman first and an artist second, so Curran has had to adapt his game.

It’s worth remembering he’s still U-21 and has a high ceiling for further improvement in the coming years, but patience isn’t a quality possessed by some Waterford hurling supporters who are ravenous for success.

Instead, they wonder why someone of Curran’s ability is being regularly subbed off in matches or else being brought on as an impact sub rather than being an automatic starter.

“Once you’re in a team I think people from the outside kind of view it differently," says Curran.

“Everyone is saying ‘why aren’t you starting?’, or, ‘why were you taken off?’, even when sometimes you’re going well and you’re taken off. You have to have the mentality to be strong to say and know you’re doing your job and that’s it.

“The way you play you might run yourself into the ground as a forward chasing, but once you’re done your job to the best you can do, you have to be happy with yourself you know.”

Curran is typical of the emerging generation of Waterford hurlers in so far as his sporting ability is complemented by a well-rounded personality.

When you ask him a question he gives you a thoughtful and honest answer. Others might be inclined to side-step the topic, but he has no issues exploring the doubts that sometimes afflict young hurlers trying to make the grade at the highest level.

Derek McGrath

Derek McGrath

He’s a product of the environment that Derek McGrath has created with Waterford where personal growth is encouraged as much as athletic development.

Rather than try to shelter them too much from the public or the media, McGrath has no problems with them standing on their own two feet because that’s what he wants them to do on a hurling pitch too.

With that goes an acceptance that some mistakes will be made along the way, but with the understanding that that’s the only way you’ll truly learn.

“He probably knows that we are going to make mistakes when we go out,” says Curran.

“But he wants us to be the best we can be as players and as people as well so that’s important on the other side as well.

“To kind of enjoy it as well at the same time and not be totally shackled by everything and to just enjoy every aspect of it really.

“There’s times when you’d want to give it up alright, it’s just things aren’t going right for you.

“But I enjoy every bit of it to be honest. It is tough but you have to take the highs with the lows. I suppose the thing is the big days are worth it.

“They are worth the hardship and they are worth the hard days. So that’s the way I look at it.”