John Mullane

{{Short description|Irish hurler (born 1981)}} {{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2015}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox Gaelic games biography | code = Hurling | sport = Hurling | image = | caption = John Mullane in action for [[De La Salle GAA|De La Salle]] in 2009 | name = John Mullane | irish = Seán Ó Maoláin | feet = 6 | inches = 0 | nickname = | occupation = Electrician | county = Waterford | province = Munster | clubs = [[De La Salle GAA|De La Salle]] | clposition = Full forward | clyears = 1998– | clapps(points) = | clcounty = 3 | clprovince = 2 | clallireland = 0 | counties = [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] | icposition = Right corner forward | icyears = 2001–2012 | icapps(points) = 47 (15–134) | icprovince = 4 | icallireland = 0 | nhl = 1 | allstars = 5 | clupdate = | icupdate = 20:35, 28 October 2012 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1981|1|28}} | birth_place = [[Waterford]] }}

'''John Mullane''' (born 28 January 1981)<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.clubdeise.com/?page_id=46| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090424075815/http://www.clubdeise.com/?page_id=46| archive-date = 2009-04-24| title = Club Déise » Player Profiles}}</ref> is an Irish [[hurling|hurler]] who previously played as a right corner-forward for the [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] senior team.

Mullane joined the team during the [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2001|2001 championship]] and immediately became a regular member of the starting fifteen. Since then he has won four [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship|Munster]] winners' medals, one [[National Hurling League|National League]] winners' medal and five [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards|All Star]] awards. Mullane has ended up as an All-Ireland runner-up on one occasion.

At club level Mullane is a two-time [[Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship|Munster]] medalist with [[De La Salle GAA|De La Salle]]. In addition to this he has also won three [[Waterford Senior Hurling Championship|county club championship]] medals.

Mullane is widely considered one, if not the best player [[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] has ever produced. Winning a total of 5 [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards|All-Stars]] (a record for a Waterford player), Mullane is also one of the best players ever never to win the [[Liam MacCarthy Cup]]. He is considered a legend of [[Waterford]] due to his passionate displays throughout his career.

==Playing career== ===Club=== Mullane plays his club hurling with the [[De La Salle GAA|De La Salle]] club and has enjoyed much success.

After few victories in the minor and under-21 grades, Mullane lined out in his first championship decider in 2005 as De La Salle faced [[Ballygunner GAA|Ballygunner]]. A narrow 2–10 to 1–12 defeat was Mullane's lot on that occasion.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/waterford-flynns-late-magic-keeps-gunners-firing-235978.html|title=Flynn's late magic keeps Gunners firing|date=17 October 2005|publisher=Irish Independent|access-date=28 October 2012}}</ref>

After a number of years of early exits in the county championship, De La Salle reached the championship final again in 2008. [[Abbeyside GAA|Abbeyside]] were the opponents on that occasion and a close game developed. At the final whistle De La Salle were the champions by 0–11 to 0–9 and Mullane collected his first [[Waterford Senior Hurling Championship|county championship]] medal.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid-10076953.html|title=Gallant De La Salle end 90-year title agony|date=10 November 2008|publisher=Irish Examiner|access-date=28 October 2012|first=John|last=Murphy}}</ref> De La Salle subsequently represented Waterford in the provincial series and even reached the final. A narrow 1–9 to 0–10 defeat of [[Adare GAA|Adare]] gave Mullane a first [[Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship|Munster]] medal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/mullane-basks-in-de-la-salle-euphoria-1558874.html|title=Mullane basks in De La Salle euphoria|date=1 December 2008|publisher=Irish Independent|access-date=28 October 2012}}</ref> Mullane's side later reached the All-Ireland decider where [[Portumna GAA|Portumna]] provided the opposition. De La Salle were well beaten on that occasion by 2–24 to 1–8.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/idqlauojql/|title=Portumna the team of all talents|date=18 March 2009|publisher=Irish Examiner|access-date=28 October 2012|first=Diarmuid|last=O'Flynn}}</ref>

After surrendering their county and provincial titles in 2009, De La Salle bounced back the following year to reach the county final once again. A 3–13 to 1–11 defeat of Ballygunner gave Mullane a second championship medal.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/gaa-hurling/two-out-of-three-ain%E2%80%99t-bad-for-rampant-de-la-salle/|title=Two out of three ain't bad for rampant De La Salle|date=29 October 2010|publisher=The Munster Express|access-date=28 October 2012|first=Eddie|last=Kirwan}}</ref> He later added a second Munster medal to his collection following a one-point defeat of [[Thurles Sarsfields GAA|Thurles Sarsfield's]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/sport/munster-club-glory-for-de-la-salle-483616.html|title=Munster club glory for De La Salle|date=28 November 2010|publisher=Breaking News website|access-date=28 October 2012}}</ref>

Two years later Mullane won a third county championship medal as De La Salle trounced [[Dungarvan GAA|Dungarvan]] by 1–21 to 0–12 in the county final.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-20210864.html|title=Bigger tests loom for rampant De La Salle|date=15 October 2012|publisher=Irish Examiner|access-date=28 October 2012|first=Michael|last=Moynihan}}</ref>

===Inter-county=== Mullane began his inter-county career as a member of the Waterford minor and under-21 hurling team in the late nineties, however, he had little success in these grades.

His senior championship debut for his native-county came in the first round of the provincial championship in 2001 against [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]]. After a lightning start to the game, Mullane disappointingly had to leave the field after pulling his hamstring. Limerick went on to win the game.

In 2002 Mullane claimed his first [[Munster Senior Hurling Championship|Munster]] winners' medal as Waterford defeated Tipperary by 2–23 to 3–12 to claim the provincial crown for the first time in thirty-nine years.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/waterford-wonders-whip-tipp-with-awesome-display-298042.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20121205034835/http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/waterford-wonders-whip-tipp-with-awesome-display-298042.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 2012 |title=Waterford wonders whip Tipp with awesome display |publisher=[[Irish Independent]] |access-date=2 August 2012 |date=1 July 2002 |first=Martin |last=Breheny }}</ref>

Waterford set out to defend their Munster title and build on their success in 2003. [[Cork GAA|Cork]], however, had other ideas. In that game Mullane became one of the very few players to have scored a hat-trick of goals in a Munster hurling final, however, Waterford still lost the match. His side were later defeated by [[Wexford GAA|Wexford]] in the All-Ireland qualifiers. In spite of a disappointing season, Mullane won his first [[GAA GPA All Stars Awards|All Star]] award.

2004 saw Waterford qualify for a third successive Munster final with Cork providing the opposition once again. Described as the game that had everything Waterford beat Cork by 3–16 to 1–21 to win one of the greatest games of hurling ever played. The game was not without incident for Mullane. Only a few minutes into the second-half of the game the referee noticed an "off the ball incident" between Cork's [[Brian Murphy (hurler, born 1982)|Brian Murphy]] and Mullane. After consultation with the linesman, the referee decided to send off Mullane. This was deemed to be the pivotal moment in the match. The subsequent All-Ireland semi-final saw Waterford take on a wounded Kilkenny team. In spite of this 'the Cats' were the winners by 3–12 to 0–18.

The following two years brought little success for Mullane and Waterford. In 2005 and 2006 they reached the All-Ireland knock-out series, however, they were beaten on both occasions by Cork.

In 2007 Mullane added a [[National Hurling League]] medal to his collection when Waterford defeated Kilkenny by 0–20 to 0–18 in the final.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.munster-express.ie/sports/gaa-hurling/waterford-end-44-year-faminewith-national-league-title/|title=Waterford end 44-year faminewith National League title|publisher=Munster Express|access-date=2 August 2012|date=4 May 2007|first=Martin|last=Breheny}}</ref> He later claimed a third Munster winners' medal as Waterford defeated [[Limerick GAA|Limerick]] by 3–17 to 1–14 in the provincial decider.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/dynamic-dan-adds-some-extra-dash-for-the-dise-995588.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120904121742/http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/dynamic-dan-adds-some-extra-dash-for-the-dise-995588.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 September 2012 |title=Dynamic Dan adds some extra dash for the Déise |publisher=[[Irish Independent]] |access-date=2 August 2012 |date=9 July 2007 |first=Martin |last=Breheny }}</ref> While Waterford were viewed as possibly going on and winning the All-Ireland title for the first time in almost half a century, Limerick ambushed Mullane's side in the All-Ireland semi-final. Mullane himself was largely disappointing in this game having had a virus for several weeks leading up to the game.

2008 began poorly for Waterford as the team lost their opening game to [[Clare GAA|Clare]] as well as their manager [[Justin McCarthy (hurler)|Justin McCarthy]]. In spite of this poor start Mullane's side reached the All-Ireland final for the first time in forty-five years. Kilkenny provided the opposition and went on to trounce Waterford by 3–30 to 1–13 to claim a third All-Ireland title in-a-row.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2008/0907/237822-kilkenny_waterford/|title=RTÉ Sport: Kilkenny 3–30 Waterford 1–13|publisher=[[RTÉ Sport]]|access-date=2 August 2012|date=8 September 2008}}</ref>

In spite of another disappointing season in 2009, Mullane finished off the year by collecting a second All Star award.

Mullane lined out in another Munster final in 2010 with Cork providing the opposition. A 2–15 apiece draw was the result on that occasion, however, Waterford went on to win the replay after an extra-time goal by [[Dan Shanahan]]. It was a fourth Munster winners' medal for Mullane, a record that he shares with five other Waterford players. He later collected a third All Star award.

Waterford faced back-to-back defeats by Tipperary in the Munster finals if 2011 and 2012. In spite of these disappointments Mullane collected his fourth and fifth All Star awards. In January 2013 Mullane announced his retirement from inter county hurling declaring that <blockquote>I just felt in the end that mentally it just broke me – I had enough. Physically I feel I could have gone on for another year or two, but mentally I'd had enough.</blockquote><ref>{{cite web|title=Game broke me mentally – Mullane|url=http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/game-broke-me-mentally-mullane-3357474.html|work=[[Irish Independent|Independent.ie]]|access-date=19 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2013/0117/363282-mullane-hangs-up-his-hurley/|title= John Mullane retires from inter-county hurling with Waterford|date=18 January 2013|work=RTÉ Sport|access-date=21 January 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thescore.thejournal.ie/john-mullane-waterford-758702-Jan2013/|title= John Mullane announces his retirement|date=18 January 2013|work=The Score|access-date=21 January 2013 }}</ref>

===Inter-provincial=== Mullane has also lined out with [[Munster GAA|Munster]] in the inter-provincial hurling championship on a number of occasions. He was captain of the side in 2007 when he won his sole [[Railway Cup]] medal following a 2–22 to 2–19 defeat of [[Connacht GAA|Connacht]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/hurling/2007/1027/224287-interpro/|title=RTÉ Sport: Munster 2–22 Connacht 2–19|publisher=[[RTÉ Sport]]|access-date=29 October 2012|date=28 October 2007}}</ref>

==Television and Radio== In 2014, Mullane made appearances on [[RTÉ2]]'s 3rd season of [[Second Captains Live]]. Each week Mullane presented a modern-day version of "The Skills of Hurling", a show from the late 1970s which featured a young [[Brian Cody]] and other players from that era. Some of the 'skills' Mullane included were, 'Celebrating Winning a Free', 'The Shoulder Welcome', 'The Championship Haircut' and 'The Tunnel Sprint'.

Since 2017 he has been co commentating major hurling matches on [[RTÉ Radio 1]].

==Career statistics== ===Club=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"|Team !rowspan="2"|Year !colspan="2"|[[Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship|Munster]] !colspan="2"|[[All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship|All-Ireland]]

!colspan="2"|Total |- !Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score |- |rowspan="3"|[[De La Salle GAA|De La Salle]] |[[2008-09 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship|2008-09]] ||2||1-07||2||0-06||4||1-13 |- |[[2010-11 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship|2010-11]] ||2||0-10||1||0-11||3||0-21 |- |[[2012-13 All-Ireland Senior Club Hurling Championship|2012-13]] ||2||0-03||0||0-00||2||0-03 |- !colspan="2"|Total |'''6'''||'''1-20'''||'''3'''||'''0-17'''||'''9'''||'''1-37''' |}

===Inter-county=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- !rowspan="2"|Team !rowspan="2"|Year !colspan="3"|[[National Hurling League|National League]] !colspan="2"|[[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship|Championship]]

!colspan="2"|Total |- !Division!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score!!Apps!!Score |- |rowspan="12"|[[Waterford GAA|Waterford]] |2001 |rowspan="1"|[[National Hurling League|Division 1B]] |6||1-11||1||0-01||7||1-12 |- |2002 |rowspan="7"|[[National Hurling League|Division 1A]] |4||0-01||3||0-06||7||0-07 |- |2003 |1||0-03||3||4-07||4||4-10 |- |2004 |9||1-23||3||1-06||12||2-29 |- |2005 |8||2-17||5||1-15||13||3-32 |- |2006 |6||1-14||6||2-17||12||3-31 |- |2007 |6||1-12||5||1-11||11||2-23 |- |2008 |6||3-13||5||2-21||11||5-34 |- |2009 |rowspan="3"|[[National Hurling League|Division 1]] |2||0-06||5||1-17||7||1-23 |- |2010 |5||0-09||4||0-13||9||0-22 |- |2011 |2||0-04||4||3-12||6||3-16 |- |2012 |rowspan="1"|[[National Hurling League|Division 1A]] |2||0-04||3||0-08||5||0-12 |- !colspan="3"|Total |'''57'''||'''9-117'''||'''47'''||'''15-134'''||'''104'''||'''24-251''' |}

==Honours== ===Team=== ;De La Salle *[[Munster Senior Club Hurling Championship]] (2): 2008 (c), 2010 *[[Waterford Senior Club Hurling Championship]] (3): 2008 (c), 2010, 2012

;Waterford *[[Munster Senior Hurling Championship]] (4): [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2002#Munster Senior Hurling Championship|2002]], [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2004#Munster Senior Hurling Championship|2004]], [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2007#Munster Senior Hurling Championship|2007]], [[All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship 2010#Munster Senior Hurling Championship|2010]] *[[National Hurling League]] (1): [[2007 National Hurling League|2007]]

;Munster *[[Railway Cup|Inter-provincial Championship]] (1): 2007(c)

===Individual=== *[[List of All Stars Awards winners (hurling)|All Stars]] (5): 2003, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012

==In popular culture== A John Mullane flag was spotted flying at Glastonbury Music Festival 2025. Captioned "I Love me Flag".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.waterford-news.ie/news/john-mullane-flag-spotted-flying-at-glastonbury_arid-62972.html|title=john mullane flag spotted flying at glastonbury|work=Waterford news&star|date=30 June 2025|access-date=1 July 2025}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-sports}} {{succession box | before=[[Eddie Brennan]]<br />([[Leinster GAA|Leinster]]) | title=[[List of Interprovincial Hurling Championship finals|Interprovincial Hurling Final]]<br />winning [[Captain (sport)|captain]] | years=2007 | after=[[Tommy Walsh (hurler, born 1983)|Tommy Walsh]]<br />([[Leinster GAA|Leinster]]) }} {{s-end}}

{{De La Salle Hurling Team 2009}} {{Waterford Hurling Team 2004}} {{Waterford NHL Team 2007}} {{Waterford Hurling Team 2007}} {{Waterford Hurling Team 2008}} {{Waterford Hurling Team 2010}} {{2003 Hurling All Stars}} {{2009 Hurling All Stars}} {{2010 Hurling All Stars}} {{2011 Hurling All Stars}} {{2012 Hurling All Stars}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mullane, John}} [[Category:1981 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:De La Salle hurlers]] [[Category:Gaelic games commentators]] [[Category:Hurling forwards]] [[Category:Hurling selectors]] [[Category:Munster inter-provincial hurlers]] [[Category:People educated at De La Salle College Waterford]] [[Category:Waterford inter-county hurlers]] [[Category:21st-century Irish sportsmen]]