"It's a terrible blow for Pauric himself. He's our talisman. There is no point in avoiding it, there is no point in dressing it up in any other way. Everything goes through him."

Pauric Mahony's leg break is a serious blow to Waterford's championship prospects according to Derek McGrath.

"The main thing that I think about is our players are volunteers, whether they play for their counties or clubs. There's no personal gain for the GAA player, they play for the love of the game and it would be wrong of us to make a judgment."

GAA President Aogan Ó Fearghail gave his reaction to the news that a Monaghan footballer is under investigation for steroid use.

"This is a huge weekend for Westmeath hurling."

It was a weekend to remember for Westmeath senior hurling manager Michael Ryan.

"Everything was good and everyone was very serious. There was never a word of complacency or anything like it - it is just unexplainable how a lot of us didn't show up."

Kevin Ryan was at a loss to explain Antrim's 17-point defeat in Mullingar.

"Regardless of the score, it was good to get the boys out. The overall effort from both our defence and attack was good in difficult conditions. That's all we ask them, to be the best that they can be, and I thought they put their best foot forward today."

Dublin football supremo Jim Gavin oversaw a 1-15 to 2-7 challenge victory over Cork yesterday.

"It's like having two new players but they need more games and that's what today was about. I was very happy with them and I thought we played good enough football. A challenge game is a challenge game and a lot of players played well, so I'm happy out."

The return of Alan O'Connor and Ruairi Deane is a timely boost for Brian Cuthbert.

"You are nearly out of fashion now if you don't come up with some real good theory or a defensive strategy. Everyone is told to work back if their person has the ball and so they work to win the ball back. It is that simple."

Cork ladies manager Eamonn Ryan rubbished claims that his team go out on to the field with a defend first policy following Saturday's Division 1 final draw against Galway.

"It was a great advert for Ladies football. We could have won it, we could have lost it but we'll take the draw and I think Cork will as well."

Ryan's Galway counterpart Kevin Reidy gave credit to both sets of players.

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