“After the first league game against Tipperary I knew that that this could be our year”

When it comes to this Sunday’s All-Ireland, it’s a feeling of mine that the winning of the game could well come down to experience.

When it comes to the Waterford set up there is a number of very experienced players who have been playing Intercounty Camogie for Waterford at different levels for over a decade now, some of whom have played in Croke Park already on All-Ireland final day in the recent past and who will be able to tell many of the panel who are making their first appearance to Croke Park to be part of a participating team on All-Ireland Final what to expect on the day.

One of the most experienced of these players is Jennie Simpson.

The Saint Anne’s player was part of the Waterford under 16 ‘B’ All-Ireland Final winning team back in 2003 when the side beat Armagh 6-11 to 1-4 at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.

The a part of the Ardkeen Camogie Club, Jennie this weekend will be joined by Charlotte Raher of the Saint Anne’s Club and Gailltir’s Trish Jackman on the bus to Croke Park.

That under 16 team was a very successful one with many of the side going on to play for Waterford at the highest level at the time in the years that followed including the likes of Aisling O’Brien, Laura Buckley, Emma Hannon who was involved in the league this year for Waterford, Áine Lyng, Ciara Keogh and Martina Cashin has gone one to play for Waterford at a higher level.

The experience that Jennie has gained in the years since 2003 is going to be invaluable to the team when the sides takes to the field.

She is a player that has done it all. In addition to the under 16 medal won in 2003, she has helped Waterford win the Junior All-Ireland Final in 2011, thee National Leagues, the most recent of which came as late as last May when Waterford beat Laois at Dr. Cullen Park. She also has an Intermediate Munster Medal in her collection of medals, while in the green and red shirt of Saint Anne’s she has helped them win two County Senior Championships in 2009 and 2012, a Munster Club medal in 2009, a County senior league medal last year and has also won an Ashbourne Cup medal and has two Soaring Star awards.

The experience she has gained over the years helped her in the semi final win over Meath at Nowlan Park.

In the three previous All-Ireland semi finals Waterford had finished second best. And when Waterford went eight points down before the break and nine just after it, while some might have been wondering, here we go again, another semi final defeat, no such thoughts crossed the mind of the Saint Anne’s player. All she wanted was for the referee to blow her whistle and to get the rest of the players into the dressing room, to calm things down and to get the side hurling the way that she knew they could.

She has also been quick to signal out the part that the new young players brought into the panel this year by Sean Fleming, Brother Philip Ryan and Christ Dempsey have played

“They have added a new leaf of life to the panel” she says. “They bring the skill to a new level and are not scared to express themselves when it comes to the big games” she says. “It’s great to be playing with the likes of Beth Carton and Kate McMahon who are only out of under 16 team as well as Dawn Power and Aisling Power. If anything they can teach us (the longer serving players) a thing or two as well and that’s a great thing about having them in the panel” she adds.

After Waterford qualified for Sunday’s final with their semi final win over Meath, it quickly came to light that the County Adult Board had senior hurling games fixed for the same day as the Camogie Final with Cappoquin, Roanmore, Lismore and Dungarvan all having games and all four had members of their camogie clubs involved with Waterford meaning that supporters and often families had to make a tough call as to which of the sides they would go to see play.

Thankfully the county board has made it possible for supporters to see both games as they brought games forward by a day, something that Jennie is delighted with.

“We are delighted that the games (hurling) have been switched to Saturday” Jennie says. “In the past, club games were on the Sunday and people’s boyfriends and family members would be playing that same day and would make people have to choose on what to do” she says. “Hopefully we will get people to support us. We are aware that it (the match) is on the television (and on WLR.fm) but it would be great if we could get support. “We (the whole panel) appeal to everybody to try and get up (Croke Park) to watch us. We would appreciate the support if people could travel” Jennie added.

As a long serving player, Jennie has played under many different coaches down the years.

One of the coaches that Jennie says stands out  and who helped her develop as a player would be Helena Jacob from Wexford who was over the WIT team when she was playing with them. “She just believed in me and that developed me as a player and drove me on for county and gave me that belief as a player”. She also lists former Waterford Camogie Manager Mark Cooney as influential in her long career, as it was he who helped lead Waterford to the All-Ireland Junior Final win in 2011.

And what of current manager Sean Fleming.

Jennie recalls how when the panel met in Dungarvan at the start of this year, numbers were low and people didn’t know how things would work out in 2015.

However she says that after the first league game against Tipperary she knew that that this could be our year. “We just took one game at a time. We never looked any further then the next game. We were always focused on that and to win the league was great we knew after that was to top the group and go forward form there.