For over a decade now, Ken McGrath has been one of the most influential hurlers in the country. A colossus with both club and county, the ultra versatile and utterly brilliant Mount Sion man has been instrumental in Waterford's return to prominence. If a hurling transfer market existed, Ken would feature near the top of every intercounty manager's shopping list but - as Gerry Robinson found out during the course of this fascinating insight into the mind of a hurling great - he would never consider turning his back on the Decies. When Waterford emerged from the hurling wilderness to win Munster SHCs in 2002 and 2004, Ken McGrath was very much to the fore. Part of a famous Waterford hurling clan, he was absolutely outstanding at full forward against Tipperary in the '02 provincial decider but has since established himself as one of the game's outstanding centre half backs. Ken's inspirational catch during the thrilling '04 Munster final defeat of Cork is the stuff of GAA legend and the indomitable No.6 gave yet another Man of the Match performance on April 29 2007 as Waterford ended a 44-year famine by defeating Kilkenny to scoop the national hurling league title. Man, there's even a Wikipedia page dedicated to Waterford's finest! However, despite the torrents of praise and approval that have gushed towards Ken for the past ten years and more, the Waterford city man remains as down to earth and approachable as ever. As well as an extraordinary hurler, he is also a decent, honest, thoughtful and genuinely interesting guy. Read on to find out why Ken McGrath is the ultimate Shooting Star… Has the league breakthrough given Waterford a huge pre-championship psychological boost? Yes. Beating Kilkenny in a league final has to give us confidence. You couldn't ask for better preparations for the championship. Obviously, it would be brilliant to win a final against any team - but did the fact that it was Kilkenny in the other corner make victory that little bit sweeter? They were the only team that we hadn't managed to beat previously and they are also our near-neighbours here in the city, so it was a sweet success. There's no getting away from the fact that they have been the top team in the country, alongside Cork, for a number of years - so, for us to beat them in a national final was certainly special. A lot of neutral hurling fans would love to see Waterford win the All-Ireland. The Decies are the Peoples Champions, in many respects. Are the players aware of this outpouring of goodwill towards this Waterford team? When you're involved, you don't really notice it. We're too busy concentrating on the matches and our preparations. Having said that, any time you're talking to people from different counties you find out that a lot of them do have great time for Waterford and that is humbling. It's a nice feeling to know we reach out to people. I suppose we have been close so often in recent years that people would love to see us make the breakthrough… The other side of this is that there's no room for romance or sentiment once the sliothar is thrown in. The Corks, Kilkennys, Tipperarys and Clares are unlikely to show Waterford any pity? True. At the end of the day, you can have all the romance you want but it's no good. It counts for nothing because the top teams will walk all over you in the big games if you give them half a chance. I know you had an injury scare after damaging a thumb in a club game the weekend after the league final. Initial reports said you'd miss the championship opener but then it emerged that the damage wasn't as bad as first feared. How's the thumb now? It's not too bad but I was worried when it happened because I've had a bad run of luck with injuries for the last few championships. I was saying to myself 'Here we go again'. I was worried because I broke the same thumb last year but thankfully it's not as bad as we thought. Are injuries something you just get used to then? Part and parcel of the game? You never get used to it. It's very difficult to accept that you can't go out there and play in an important game. Every game you miss is frustrating. Every player I know hates being injured and missing out on games. They even hate missing training. It's a horrible feeling. As I come from Monaghan myself, hurling looks very dangerous to me. If I woke up on a Sunday morning and knew there was a chance I'd get a broken digit, I'd stay in bed. Do you accept that there are risks involved? I think everybody who plays the game knows what they're doing and it's not as dangerous as it looks. Sometimes when you take it easy in training or something, that's when you'll get a belt, so you just have to put it out of your mind and focus on the game. A lot of the time it might look fairly rough but the hurl usually swings in the right direction. You'd be far more worried about your man getting a score or too much space than him hitting you a thump. When he hits you, you know he's not going to score and you'd settle for that every time. Are your family as philosophical about the risks or do they get the rosary beads out before each game? They all know the score. All four of us play for Mount Sion and our father played for Waterford as well. Everybody knows what the story is. This will be your twelfth championship campaign with Waterford. What has been the high point of your career so far? And the low? The first Munster title when Tipperary were overwhelming favourites and we ended a 39-year wait. Those days don't come around too often. We had a few great days after that win. The low has been losing four All-Ireland semi-finals - two by a point and two by two points. The 2002 semi-final against Clare in the first game at the fully redeveloped Croke Park was probably the worst. We were favourites that day but they suffocated us out of the game. Does this Waterford team need to win an All-Ireland? Or at least play in a final? A lot of us have two Munsters and a national league. However, you dream about All-Irelands and to play in a final would be a big achievement. Getting there is proving to be a major hurdle for Waterford. If we could get there, then that would be an achievement in itself and everything else would fall into place. Have this year's preparations been Waterford's best yet? In fairness, they're not that much different that the last four or five years. We have always been well prepared. It has been the same since Gerry Fitzpatrick came on board as physical trainer. All in all, training has gone really well since Christmas and we're ready. What is your hunch regarding Waterford's prospects? Is 2007 going to be your year? I think a lot of county players always feel that this year is going to be their year. But to beat Cork and Tipp in the league and then Kilkenny in the final has to give us confidence. But we know nothing is going to be easy. Munster is a minefield and there are a lot of contenders for honours in Munster and at national level. Everybody knows about Ken McGrath the hurler, but what do you do away from the field. Have you time for any hobbies? How do you relax during your time off? My daughter Ali was born on the Monday morning after the league semi-final and she keeps me on my toes. Apart from that, we're not too far from the sea here and a lot of us are big swimmers during the summer. It's only seven miles from the city to Tramore, so we go to the beach a fair bit. That's a big part of our lives in the summer. I also have a kayak out the back and I enjoy kayaking as well. It sounds like you're happy with your life in Waterford. You'll be sticking around for a few more years, then? I love it in Waterford. The city is going well and we're close to the sea as well, so it couldn't be better. I've been here all my life and we've just built a new house so hopefully I'm going to be settling here for a long, long time. Tweet

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