Veteran Waterford hurler Tony Browne has revealed that he had plans to quit the Deise setup after last year. The 35-year-old defender lined-out in all five of Waterford's All-Ireland semi-final defeats in the past ten years, and had planned to hang up his boots at inter-county level before convincing himself to stay on another year. Now, after Sunday's semi-final win over Tipperary, the Mount Sion clubman is clearly satisfied with the decision he made. "I am there a long time," he said. "I thought last year was probably my last year. "In the last couple of years I thought that it was slipping away. "But I think that this team has answered a lot of questions. Anything that was thrown at us against Tipp, we had the answers," said Browne. Browne admitted that the Deise players had always wanted to give their fans a day out in Croke Park, and that the weekend's triumph over Tipp was more for them than anyone else. "I am happy to be in an All-Ireland final now. We are just so pleased. "The celebrations were a little bit over the top after the final whistle but we always wanted to give our fans a day out in an All-Ireland final. "It was more for them really than the players, for the whole of Waterford really." Waterford return back to training tonight (Tuesday) and Browne knows that preparations will have to be just right as they face a different proposition in Kilkenny on September 7. "We are going to be massive underdogs again. We may have clicked against Tipp but we musn't forget that we are up against an awesome team in Kilkenny." Tweet

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