Now, this very moment, is a great time for Wexford hurling.
They travel to Galway this weekend for what is effectively an early season promotion decider on the back of a stirring win over Limerick.
That 1-13 to 0-13 victory suggests that the pre-season form under Davy Fitzgerald was not a false dawn – the All-Ireland winning manager may be calling for patience and realism but if Wexford manage to beat last year’s All-Ireland semi-finalists in Pearse Stadium he had better brace himself for some real hype in the South East.
Languishing in Division 1B since being relegated due to the 2011 restructuring of the National League, Wexford had brief moments of promise under Liam Dunne, particularly during the summer months, without ever threatening to escape the second tier of the league.
Fitzgerald has instigated some predictable changes, with Shaun Murphy operating as a sweeper in a more structured pattern of play, but Lee Chin has identified the key area where the Clareman has sought improvement.
“Workrate,” Chin told Colm Parkinson on Monday’s GAA Hour Hurling Show. “A lot would come down to that – that fighting attitude, that spirit.
“A never say die attitude. – going to bitter end is one thing we have worked on. You have seen over the last few years there are a lot of times we have teams up against the wall and we have let it slip through our fingers,” added Chin, citing the 2015 League defeats to Limerick and Cork, when Wexford threw away large half-time leads.
Fitzgerald will be hoping his influential vice-captain will return from his ice-escapades in Vancouver unscathed when Chin takes part in this year’s #TheToughest Trade. The Faythe Harriers man is definitely enjoying life under the former goalkeeper, who was happy for Chin to take up the opportunity with the Vancouver Canucks.
“Davy had raised level of everything,” he said. “I suppose just talking to us about our own abilities and believing in our own abilities and what we have together. What can be in front of us if we put our minds to it.
“His man-management skills are out of this world. He knows how to deal with each individual player in their own way. He is getting the most out of everybody.”
A motivational figure like Fitzgerald seems to be just what Wexford needed after a couple of seasons that Chin believes really took their toll on the young team.
Most people would look at 2014 and the stirring wins over Fitzgerald’s reigning champions Clare and Waterford as an encouraging summer, but Chin reckons the manner of the quarter-final defeat to Limerick actually did them long-term damage.
“The last couple of years lining out for Wexford, there were lots of days we underachieved and did not do ourselves any justice at all,” said Chin.
“After 2014 we thought we were making some sort of a breakthrough and beating All-Ireland champions Clare and then Waterford.
“Limerick really put a stall to us in the All-Ireland quarter-final that day. It left a lot of us walking away questioning ourselves and what sort of approach we were taking towards our own game,” he said of the 4-16 to 1-11 trouncing in Semple Stadium.
“Psychologically it [hurt us],” said Chin.. “I was only 21-22, I was young enough, psychologically it took a toll on me. For the likes of Conor McDonald, you just know it did nothing to help us progress.
“Sometimes a game like that can really effect you for a long time.”
Chin, Wexford and Fitzgerald will be hoping this Sunday marks another giant step away from that dark day.
Listen to the whole show below, which includes a look back on the opening round of National league fixtures. Alternatively, subscribe on iTunes.
