New Waterford hurling manager Michael Ryan has revealed how former player Peter Queally - who ran against him for the job - was one of the first to congratulate him on his appointment.

The Fourmilewater clubman also received congratulatory texts from Mount Sion's Jim Greene as well as former players Paul Flynn, Fergal Hartley, Stephen Frampton and Dave Bennett.

"Fair dues to Peter, he'd gone for the job," Ryan says in today's Irish Examiner.

"Jim Greene probably felt he could have gotten the job at one stage also, and one of his club-mates (Kevin Ryan) had gone for the job also. That was a big boost, to have them contact me."

Ryan dismisses the notion that the younger Waterford players will forever be scarred by this year's Munster final massacre at the hands of Tipperary.

"I'm not too worried about the young lads who came through that defeat because a lot of them would have been successful at colleges and minor level, they'd be used to winning, and youngsters bounce back from defeats quickly anyway.

"But having said that, if there are lessons to be learned from that defeat we'll learn them. It was a one-off day: maybe the attitude wasn't perfect, while Tipp were determined not to have a repeat of 2002, when they were Munster champions but Waterford beat them in the Munster final. They also had a new management team with a bit to prove.

"They got on a roll, got early goals and everybody sat back. Nobody took on the mantle of leadership, but I'm confident we'll recover from that," he added. Tweet

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