After their defeat to Kilkenny in the All-Ireland semi-final, Waterford hurling manager Derek McGrath was at pains to point out that his side will have to keep improving if they are to challenge again for honours in 2016.
McGrath's thoughts came after the 1-21 to 0-18 defeat to Kilkenny at Croke Park in what was only their second loss of the year in competitive action.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, he said: The perception is that we have a very young squad and we’ll be back next year. There are no guarantees in hurling and you’ll have a hungry Clare, Cork, Limerick and Wexford back next year. We built up a bit of momentum throughout the season but we'll have to re-group now and start preparing the long road ahead"
McGrath felt his charges gave an "absolute effort" against the Cats - opposition he claimed that were "deserving winners" on the day.
“Kilkenny were the better team and are a little bit further down the road than us in terms of experience and hurling nous and were deserving winners," he added.
"People say we tired towards the end, but that has as much to do with the sustainability of the effort that is required to stay with Kilkenny."
McGrath's counterpart Brian Cody praised the application from his side after the Black and Amber qualified for a 14th All-Ireland decider in 17 seasons.
"Everybody on the team applied themselves from the goalkeeper right up to corner-forward," he said.
"It’s an instinctive game and you have to trust the fellas out there to use their instinct. People will say that we're experienced, but have to do it on the field irrespective of how many times you’ve been out there.”
