Were hurling All Stars being handed out on the basis of the recent league, there's little doubt that Pauric Mahony would have been one of those honoured.

News of his injury at the weekend came a shock to everyone and stunned the county in Waterford.

He was 23 on Monday and underwent an operation to repair his broken tibia yesterday afternoon.

According to manager Derek McGrath the surgery was a success. “They’re happy with how it went and we’ll get the full picture in the morning.”

One of the impacts of what happened on Saturday night is that even at a relatively young age, Mahony is a loss to the leadership of the team. At the start of the season McGrath was criticised in some quarters for deciding to drop a number of more experienced players and build the team around younger hurlers.

During the successful league campaign Mahony, who made his debut at 19 four years ago, had stepped up to become a senior figure. It was a point made by his manager after the second match of the campaign, a big win over Laois.

“I will repeat what I have always said about him since he was 12 years of age. He is such a hard-working young lad and he has a great family behind him. He is vice-captain of the team and it’s his team now. He is 22 years of age and now is his time. He is taking on the mantle now. You are seeing a leader stand up and it’s great to see that before your eyes.”

Obvious contribution

Whereas the most obvious contribution was in terms of scoring – 1-90 during the league, a quarter from play for a huge match average of 11.6 – he was also central to the team’s style of play, making himself the conductor of Waterford’s attacks from centre forward and around the middle of the field.

McGrath also paid tribute to the player’s mental development and how it enabled him to perform so consistently in a leading role – especially as he was also central to Waterford IT’s march to the final of the Fitzgibbon Cup – a campaign that saw him average 9.7 over the seven matches.

“He’s worked so hard on the mental side of the game from visualisation to improving his mental approach, which has made him so cool under pressure. I think if you take his workload during the Fitzgibbon period when he was playing four and five weeks in a row and then with us on Sundays and constantly having to go to the well and produce for us during the One B campaign.”

The injury comes at a young age and Mahony will have plenty of time to resume his already glittering career even if Waterford will now have to step up in his absence.