By Cian O’Connell

Standards and success are part of the Ballygunner story.

Having claimed a 10th Waterford SHC title on the spin, Ballygunner’s thoughts have switched to a November 5 AIB Munster Club Quarter-Final against Sarsfields at Walsh Park.

That will be the next test for Ballygunner, who continue to deliver on home turf in Waterford. Pauric Mahony outlines some of the reasons why Ballygunner remain so prominent.

“Number one is the young lads coming into the set-up, they are raising standards, they are bringing a new lease of life to things, a new energy,” Mahony says. “That is key.

“If you're bringing in one or two lads every year, whether that is making the starting XV or just being involved in the 26, that definitely helps to drive on the older lads, keeping them going. The other thing is we are well aware - and competitive amongst each other too - but we are well aware that this isn't going to go on forever.

“When you are at the top within your county, you don't want to let that go, you want to try to maximise the time you are playing the game. A lot of us are in our 30s now and it isn't going to go on forever.”

Mahony stepped away from the inter-county beat earlier this year, but is eager to continue delivering for Ballygunner. These truly are special times for the club. “Definitely, we have been on the other side of the fence on numerous occasions, we know what defeat tastes like,” Mahony replies.

“You don't want to go back to them positions again. Finding that nice balance, learning from previous experiences and utilising as you go forward, but also with the young lads, they don't have any of that previous baggage. They are just coming in, so when you see them setting standards at 18, 19, or 20 it is powerful.

“That spreads right across the group. Then, the freshness side of things too from the management, constantly changing things up.

“Whether tactically, you constantly develop on that, also from a skills base, plus your S&C work, the lads there, David Franks and Shay Fitzpatrick are very good at keeping things fresh, bringing new ideas, and constantly challenging us. So you have to bring the best out of yourself.”

Being cognisant of the gap between county and provincial action is vital. “We have been in this situation now for the last two years,” Mahony says. “We've managed it okay. If you put in a flat performance in your first game, after people say the game killed them, and vice versa.

“For ourselves, we took two weeks off, it is grand to down tools for almost two weeks, to get away for a few days or some of us went playing a bit of golf.

“You are just completely switching off from the hurling before you go back at it. You are nearly heading into another block of pre-season work to top up on the fitness. At this stage you are just counting down to the days until the quarter-final.”

Many lessons have been learned throughout his days spent hurling for Ballygunner and Waterford. “It is inter-county standard now what clubs are doing,” Mahony says. “That isn't just Ballygunner, I look across Waterford, the amount of different set-ups tactically we faced this year.

We were exposed to everything. That actually helps Ballygunner because we are exposed to everything in Waterford. You can play the game a couple of different ways then when you get out of Waterford.

“I was listening to John Conlon speaking after Clonlara won, they were referring to the set-up they had and what they were doing, going above and beyond to get over the line. Every team is doing that now, the standards originally set at inter-county level are certainly now filtering down to club level.”