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Benji Whelan is eager to make progress with Waterford

New Waterford football manager Benji Whelan.

New Waterford football manager Benji Whelan.

By Cian O’Connell

The planning and plotting has commenced for Benji Whelan in his new role as Waterford football manager.

Armed with an extensive CV in coaching and preparing teams for battle Whelan is an interesting appointment succeeding the popular Tom McGlinchey as the Deise boss.

Significant challenges exist which Whelan is keen to embrace by keeping Waterford firmly on the road to respectability.

That journey is underway and an All Ireland Qualifier win over Wexford offers a drop of hope according to Whelan. “Yeah, 100% there is positivity,” Whelan admits. “Look in this county we have changed the two managers and that always brings a little bit of rejuvenation, I suppose, to the situation.

“No different to the hurling people are expectant and hopeful of an upturn in the football. Last year would put you in the mind that perhaps there is improvements on the horizon.

“We contended fairly well in a number of the games, we weren't beaten out the gap in any game, to be fair. Perhaps the Championship was different, but to go down to Wexford, to contest very, very well, it looked to me, having seen the game, that they were winners all day to be honest.

“So that is something that really puts us in a good standing going forward. I think the group are learning as we go along, there is certainly progression in the athletic side of things, and that is something that will add to it as well, so a huge amount of positivity.”

It is why Whelan is placing huge emphasis on being ultra-competitive in the spring because the Allianz Football League matters deeply to Waterford. “My League is 100% my focus at this point in time for the simple reason, with respect, when you are operating from where Waterford are in the pecking order point of view in Ireland, in football, what we have to do is to build slowly,” Whelan says.

“Challenging yourself against teams of a similar level is what is important, and that is the way we will improve.

Waterford defeated Wexford in Round One of the 2018 All Ireland SFC Qualifiers.

Waterford defeated Wexford in Round One of the 2018 All Ireland SFC Qualifiers.

“It is always a bonus to go out against the bigger guns, to try to contend with them, but to be fair most of the time you are out of your depth. This is where it is at for us.

“This is where we improve, this is how we raise the profile of the game in the county by getting a good League run and this is where we get an opportunity to play front foot football and play a nice brand of football that kids and their parents will want to come to watch.”

Other small little targets will be set to by Whelan, who remains realistic about what can be achieved. “We have to try to drive the sport on in terms of participation, especially among the youth in the county,” Whelan adds.

“When you are in a county that is predominantly hurling and we are not competing, but what we are trying to do is to market the game as much as possible to the youngsters so that they can develop their skills to potentially step into the breach when their turn comes around.

“At the moment we have a deficit of young footballers, there is no two ways about it. For me building a profile from the point of view of a good League campaign year on year it just gives people a better perspective from the point of view they expect Waterford to go out to contend. Perhaps the next step then once we are contending pretty well would be to earn a win in the Munster Championship.

“Who knows after that, I'm not going to speculate any further. That is the way I'd see it, my goal here is to try to improve this group with a view to improve the profile of the sport.”

So a good culture in Waterford football needs to be maintained? “I don't want to make too big a thing of it, but in this situation there has to be a focus it needs to be on what you are trying to do, not to just win games which is obviously the starting point,” Whelan replies.

“There has to be something that you are trying to achieve long term. Although I'm taking it game at a time, year on year, ultimately what we have to do is to start a structure, to build a foundation that we can build further from that if that makes sense.

“This is the whole ethos of what we are trying to do, it isn't easy. Many managers have come in and I suspect have had the same thought process as I have and it hasn't worked out.

Tommy Prendergast in All Ireland SFC Qualifiers action for Waterford against Wexford at Innovate Wexford Park.

Tommy Prendergast in All Ireland SFC Qualifiers action for Waterford against Wexford at Innovate Wexford Park.

“That is entirely understandable because the odds are stacked against us, but that said what we are going to do is to give it a really good shot in the winter, prepare really well, and who knows?

“I'm confident we will see an improvement. If the improvement continues and if the lads give it the application I think it will. Who knows where we will go after that?”

Whelan acknowledges that the strides made by counties such as Clare and Carlow in recent years proves what can be done.

“100%, there is no doubt about that, but what I will say, and maybe you'll understand this side of things: Waterford is a county now that is transitioning and this is the way I view it,” Whelan states.

“My days back playing in the late 80s and 90s in total there were clubs that participated in hurling, but they were football clubs. That is less so now. There are certainly more and more clubs now that would regard themselves as hurling and football.

“You see more and more clubs hitting the middle ground now whereas before they would have been standout football areas. The other thing is that there is no pocket of this county that is predominantly football, that is something you do find in a lot of other counties, and it is something that helps them.

“You have a lot of inter club rivalry in those areas and that drives those teams to higher levels, that said I will say that within this county from my viewpoint the level of club football has improved.

“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind about that, certainly from the point of view of the skills they have improved, scoring rate has improved even when you are in the latter stages of Championships dealing with tough conditions.

“And also the overall athleticism, the approach of the clubs has gone up a level so it has brought a better calibre of player on to the pitch.” The hard graft continues and a revealing spring awaits in 2019.