Maurice Shanahan admits he would have felt hurt if Waterford won the All-Ireland title in 2020

When Liam Cahill took over as Waterford senior hurling manager ahead of the 2020 season, becoming the county's third boss in as many seasons, the Tipperary native immediately made some big decisions.

Dropping two former All-Stars in Maurice Shanahan and Noel Connors raised eye-brows.

Nonetheless Cahill stuck to his guns, in spite of Shanahan hitting top form during the summer months in the county championship, scoring 2-17 in Lismore's first round match against Fourmilewater.

The Déise then embarked on an impressive championship run, going all the way to December's All-Ireland final which they lost to Limerick.

Watching his former team-mates on TV brought mixed emotions for the 31-year-old.

"It was definitely strange at the start," Shanahan conceded.

"It would have hurt me watching the matches last year, to be honest. But deep down I'm a Waterford man, and a proud Waterford man, and I wanted the lads to win.

"In the last 15 minutes of the Kilkenny game, when Stephen [Bennett] got the goal to bring them back into it, I got up and gave an old fist-pump inside in the sitting room. But then I had to go for a walk out the back, because it kind of hit home. Jesus, I would have loved to be still there helping the lads.

"Myself and Noel, we gave 10 years at it. Deep down, we always wanted Waterford to win an All-Ireland. 110 per cent. But it probably would have hurt both of us too if they did, call a spade a spade.

"We gave so much, and the first year we're gone is always the hardest year. It might be different this year going forward.

"It would have hurt me a small bit if the lads won it last year. But by God, that didn't mean I didn't want the lads to win, because I have some great friends on that Waterford team, the likes of [Kevin] Moran and Austin Gleeson, Pauric Mahony, Conor Prunty. I texted them last year before the matches, wishing them all the best of luck.

"Deep down, hand on heart, I wanted Waterford to win. Would it have hurt me a small bit? Of course it would. But that's just normality."

'I dream about playing with Waterford again'

Despite spending over a year in intercounty exile, the 2015 All-Star would jump at the opportunity to return to the fold.

"If the call came, I would [return]. I'd never turn my back on Waterford," he said. "I'm not getting any younger, that's the only thing. I'm 31 now. People are saying the sport is getting younger every day.

"Last year when Liam rang me and told me that I wasn't part of the plans going forward, I said 'leave me retire on my own terms'. But I slept on it, and I said 'No I'm not going to retire'.

"You never know. A new manager might come in next year and he might see you as part of his plans, and things might be different. You might go back and give it a year. I dream about playing with Waterford again. It will probably never happen to be honest, but I would like to play with Waterford again."

I dream about playing with Waterford again.

He has not used his exclusion from the intercounty squad as a chip on his shoulder for the impressive performances in a Lismore jersey, however.

"It wouldn't have spurred me on," he noted. "I would expect myself to go out and do that for Lismore anyway. It wasn't the reason I done it that I got dropped from Waterford. If people know me, I'm a proud Lismore man, where I come from. I love the people where I come from, I love the club.

"It wouldn't have been to get at Liam or anything like that."

For now, he is simply relishing a return to club action, after months of frustration in lockdown.

"With Covid everyone's in the same boat. The one thing I get a lot of peace from is going training with the lads and messing around with them before training. Then going in and training hard with them and messing around after training as well," he said.

"When you go up to the field maybe three nights a week, you're up there for an hour and 20 minutes. It gives you a different relief. You're with the lads you grew up with. Even when you're running around the field one lad might say, 'Well, how are ya keeping?' And you'd go, 'Ah not too bad now' or 'Jeez, I had a bad day today' or anything like that. Even just talking to them before training.

"With Covid it's a bit of a disaster really that the GAA fields aren't open to adult club players or even U20s at the moment. I saw the other day U17s can train but U20s can't train on a club field so there's not much of a difference there. Hopefully in the next two or three weeks the GAA pitches will be [fully] open."