Even by the standards of the year, Waterford captain Conor Prunty has had a dizzying time of it. Named vice-captain at the end of 2019, he had to step up when captain Pauric Mahony injured his cruciate just before the intercounty season began.
He’s taken on some of the big tasks in the championship to date and taken the hits – Aron Shanagher’s two goals in the All-Ireland quarter-final, another two-goal salvo in the semi-final, this time from Kilkenny – and come out fighting every time with no suggestion of being switched or taken off.
Now he’s ready to captain the county on its trip to an All-Ireland final, a journey few envisaged at the start of the championship let alone the start of the year when Liam Cahill took over as manager.
On the verge of that achievement, Prunty is most comfortable playing it down and taking refuge in the mundane.
“The last few weeks have been – I know this sounds a bit stupid – a bit of normality for us because we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing for the past couple of years. Life hasn’t changed that much in that you’re training with each other and playing games.
“It’s exciting now to be in an All-Ireland final and have something to look forward to.”
It wasn’t something that many had looked forward to at half-time in the semi-final when they trailed Kilkenny by seven – a margin no team had previously overcome in championship during the Brian Cody era in Kilkenny. They hadn’t played well but that’s not a get-out-of-jail card.
“I think it was relatively calm,” he says of the dressingroom. “Fellas were just slightly frustrated that we hadn’t got the best out of ourselves and I suppose we just went out in the second half, that target was just to work hard for each other.”
It hasn’t been a smooth progression for Prunty from under-age prominence as a dual minor and under-21, as injury has intervened to complicate his arrival.
“The first year [2017] I tore my quad, playing Limerick in a Munster league game, which hampered me for that year. It was a 12- to 16-week job and the following year I did it again in a challenge and it was a recurring thing. It’s sorted now and in the past couple of years and I’ve been able to focus on being injury-free. It’s worked out.”
Real understanding
His championship debut came last year against Clare and he started all four games of Waterford’s unhappy Munster campaign at the end of which they had lost them all.
Under new management, they put down a good league and Prunty’s performances were excellent in the spring.
The emergence of the team this year has been startling – there are only eight survivors of the team that started the 2017 All-Ireland – and he pays tribute to the experience of established colleagues, especially his partner at the heart of the Waterford defence, Tadhg de Búrca.
“Tadhg is an exceptional player. I’ve known him since my school days so we get on pretty well. I think he just has a real understanding of the game. We communicate well on the field. Another hard worker and it shows.”
A member of the Abbeyside-Ballinacourty club, a fusion between football and hurling on the outskirts of Dungarvan, he had a busy dual existence during the county championships, which are still unresolved, as the football wasn’t concluded before the county season.
“Yeah, playing club football the first two group games and then hurling, it’s a bit of a juggling act. I picked up a small injury – no big deal really, I just got back and worked hard to get myself right for the hurling championship. I missed the football semi against The Nire and we’re waiting now to play the football county final in February 2021.”
The pandemic has helped in certain ways. A student at Cork IT, where he won a Freshers title, he has been able to conduct his academic career without any commuting.
“I’m at home doing my final year in mechanical engineering in CIT. Studying at home suits me in a way. You log on and do your bit when it suits and look back at recorded lectures, which really helps fellas like me with busy schedules. Being at home also cuts down on travelling as well so it’s been beneficial.”
On the home front, he’s aware that the mood is low-key compared to what an All-Ireland final would normally mean when not played in midwinter in the absence of crowds.
“I suppose there’s a lot of flags and stuff up, you notice that but I haven’t bumped into too many people – just the way things are at the moment, you don’t. In a way I’m shielded from any excitement that there is. Obviously I can imagine that a lot of households are getting excited.”
That sounds about right.
