Waterford have been dealt a huge blow ahead of the Championship with the news that captain Pauric Mahony has been ruled out for the entire campaign.
The Ballygunner talisman has suffered a knee injury and while the seriousness of it hasn’t yet been disclosed, it’s sufficient to see him sidelined for the rest of the year after he hobbled out of a challenge game against Wexford last weekend.
Waterford open their campaign with a Munster semi-final against Cork in Thurles on Saturday week as they look for a first Championship win since beating the Rebels in the 2017 All-Ireland semi-final, having drawn one and lost eight of their nine Championships outings since.
That task has been made all the more difficult for manager Liam Cahill by the loss of his skipper, 28, who is one of the most accurate free-takers in the game and would be a virtual certainty to fill any of the positions across the half-forward line.
In August, he starred for Ballygunner in a runaway county final win over Passage in which he struck 0-8 to claim his ninth title and seventh in succession with the city club.
It’s the second time that Mahony has been ruled out of a Championship season for Waterford having had to sit out the 2015 campaign after suffering a horror leg break while on club duty just days after the Allianz League final win over Cork.
