Seán Moran talks to Limerick man Gerry Fitzpatrick, who was asked to stay on with Waterford during June's management crisis

WHEN WORD of Justin McCarthy's exit as Waterford manager emerged last June there was an accompanying piece of information that was low-key but significant. The players had continued to train together under the supervision of Gerry Fitzpatrick.

This indicated two things: first, that even if the management was stepping down the players were still keen to keep Fitzpatrick involved, and, second, that he was happy to comply.

Admitting that it was hard to stay after McCarthy had been replaced by David Fitzgerald, the team trainer decided that to remain would not be in conflict with his loyalty to the previous management.

"There's a period when it was difficult because you didn't know what you should do or what was going to happen. For me, I wasn't management. I'm not involved in selecting players, making decisions. I'm not much different to the physio.

"When it came to the point where the players said they wanted you to stay on, they wanted you to start training the following day, it would be very hard to walk out on them.

"It's one thing going off to get another manager. I'd have to walk around Waterford every day, bump into these guys and go 'I wasn't there when you were stuck for somebody for a week'. I'm sure Davy could probably have had somebody in a week, but there were only a few weeks, and when you are going to the gym with them on a Monday night, a group of two or three of them, and you know them personally and you are going into the shop buying stuff off them - it would have been very hard to turn your back."

Since accepting the invitation to train the team in 2004 - he was involved in a similar capacity with the county hurlers in the early 1990s - Fitzpatrick, a Limerick native, has been popular with the players and overseen preparation for the county's most successful phase in modern times.

His background is dauntingly varied. Describing him as a physical trainer is too limiting for someone who has coached basketball at the highest level here and who lectures in sports psychology as well as in strength and conditioning.

There are specific demands in hurling and he was familiar with them from his earlier contribution to the county panel as well as with WIT's successful Fitzgibbon Cup sides of the late 1990s.

"There is a certain amount of endurance and speed, quickness and agility are a major factor in it. Injury prevention has probably been a big priority. We have a lot of players moving into their late 20s, early 30s. That's a particular thing we have tried to gear it towards. Ambush the potential injuries before they happen and try to prolong their potential playing careers. Peter Kirwan and the physios play a very big part in that too.

"You can be incredibly fit and get injured every two or three weeks. Just because you are in great shape doesn't mean you are injury-free. We would prefer players to be 90 per cent fit and injury-free rather than primed like a racehorse."

Although he is a sports psychologist he hasn't performed the role formally within the panel beyond the occasional request for an intervention. Fitzgerald has brought in John Carey as psychologist, which Fitzpatrick says "spreads the burden more evenly". Asked for a sports psychologist's view of what happened last June when the players decided they needed new management, he is diplomatic without being evasive.

"Hard to know - maybe something had run its course. It was very much the players involved in that. It's a players' team, players play and you have to respect their decision and go with it. I think there is great time around Waterford and within the team for Justin. Maybe it's not a question for a sports psychologist."

He combines the roles of director of physical preparation with that of personal trainer, consulting with players individually and especially with those rehabilitating after injury. Core stability work he describes as "a huge part" of what he does, adding that "general stability for ankles, knees, hips is important".

"Yeah, when Ken (McGrath) is recovering from knee surgery you go for a jog on the beach with him, just because you don't want him to go on his own in case it flares up on him. It's different from management because management have to keep a bit of a distance because they might be giving a fella bad news next week.

"Generally I don't have that much bad news to give them. They consider eight 200-metre runs bad news. That's about it."