I met one of my favourite GAA men in Fraher Field Waterford following Dr Crokes 2011 Munster Championship win there and we chatted about John's life and times. John Kiely or Jackson as he is affectionately known is widely acknowledged and correctly so, as the man who put Waterford football on the map. Having managed Waterford to two All-Ireland Junior titles in 1999 and 2004 Kiely took over the reins at senior level in 2005. He kick-started a period of transition, slowly turning the cogs of Waterford football from a volatile team to a virile one. Opting for as many players over six foot as he could find, Jackson molded a team of jackals who degraded once monolithic opponents by attacking their best qualities and then finishing off their wounded enemy with vigorous power and pace. Under Kiely, Waterford went from watching a team that made you think you had been drinking Jack Daniels all morning, to a team that claimed major scalps and began to collect confidence as well as back to back League points for the first time in decades.

Speaking to him, he informed me that his greatest memory as Waterford Senior manager was in 2006 when Waterford played Kerry in the Munster championship in Killarney. It was a game where despite losing; Waterford substantiated the work Jackson had put in, proving insurmountable for Kerry throughout the majority of the match. 'That day none of the Kerry forwards got a shot on our goalie Tom Wall. Unfortunately at the other end we missed a few chances including a penalty but late in the second half we were only four points behind. We certainly had them worried.'  Kerry went on to win the game by eight in the end, turning to their strong bench to help them stumble over the finish line. A proud statistic from the day boasts that it was the only time in championship (and still is), where Colm Cooper was held scoreless from play. Kiely explains 'That would be my greatest memory as Waterford manager because of the quality of the opponent.

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