Ahead of Waterford's All Ireland final appearance on Sunday, we've been speaking to Austin Flynn who lined out at full back when the county last won the tournament.
"After 58 years we’re still waiting for this All Ireland final. It will be great if the lads pull it off on Sunday, which I hope they will, and I expect them to," he told Off The Ball.
He reflected that the seeds of that success were sown years before the 1959 win:
"In 1957 a group of us were brought to a field … Pat Fanning addressed the group. I remember what he said was, ‘As God as my judge, I believe that there’s the winning of an All Ireland in this group here tonight for Waterford. Not for yourselves, but for the Waterford jersey. It will take a huge effort on your part and you’ll have to dig until it hurts and then dig down and find a little bit extra for Waterford.’
"Cork had their traditions and it’s easy to have traditions if you are winning. Same applies to Tipperary and Kilkenny. But it takes someone special who’ll get up off the ground after being beaten and have another go the following year. We’ve been doing that for 58 years. It’s time for something to change."
He told Ger Gilroy that the game has gone to a new level since his playing days:
"Anyone talking about the great hurlers of the past would have to take into account that they really weren’t a patch on what’s there today. The skill of the fellahs today is rising the whole time. The bar is being moved up higher. The backroom fellahs and the scientific way they approach everything. It’s unbelievable."
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