Friday’s All-Star nominations would lead you to believe Davy Fitzgerald’s cross-country trip is bringing him to a hurling land on par with the one he is departing.
While Clare’s Cian Dillon, Tony Kelly and Colm Galvin have been long-listed for the end of the year awards, Wexford have themselves secured two nominations – full-back Matthew O’Hanlon and centre-forward Lee Chin.
Three to two almost suggests parity, but while Clare and Wexford’s seasons both ended on the same day in Thurles – with quarter-final defeats – the Model County’s loss to Waterford seemed like a shot to nothing, compared to Clare’s galling defeat to a Galway team considered “gutless” by Ger Loughnane.
The Banner are contenders enduring a slump. Wexford are a slump that dreams of contending.
“If anyone deserved a rest and a break… Maybe the county board might send me on a holiday, I’d take it. I’ve given it everything I can and we’re introducing new things all the time,” said Liam Dunne as his fifth season in charge came to a shuddering halt.
Injuries had weakened Dunne’s team considerably but a run to the last six, which involved wins over Offaly and Cork seemed like a high-water mark. There had been the 2014 replay win over Fitzgerald’s All-Ireland champions, but these guerrilla Qualifier victories had replaced the Leinster final appearances that Wexford fans had taken for granted before the resurgence in Dublin hurling and Galway’s migration east.
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The appointment of an All-Ireland and Munster SHC winning manager like Fitzgerald will raise hopes that the good times can return to the South East, but Fitzgerald would want to take on the job with his eyes open.
True, there are green shoots of progress with the three Leinster Under-21 titles on the trot between 2013 and 2015, but the Clare team Fitzgerald guided to All-Ireland glory in 2013 was built around a generation who won three Under-21 All-Irelands in a row. You have to go back to 1965 for Wexford’s one and only triumph at the grade.
There are talented young hurlers coming through to add to the likes of Chin, O’Hanlon and Conor MacDonald. Young players such as Cathal Dunbar and Simon Donohoe are excellent but when you look over the border you get a sense of the scale of improvement elsewhere. No, not the Kilkenny border, the other one – there are eight Waterford players on the current Under-21 team of the year.
The Centre of Excellence in Ferns is a superb training facility but the county is still finding its feet again after getting on top of the associated €3 million mountain of debt. Dunne’s pre-season training camps have been held in sunny Waterford in recent times.
After a few years of high expenditure Fitzgerald (and Colm Collins) tightened their belts considerably in 2015, to the point where Clare’s intercounty teams last year cost less to prepare than Wexford’s, but the pressures in the Model County are not just financial.
A powerful manager who likes to take, shall we say, a holistic approach to preparing his teams, Fitzgerald may seek more control over the development of young players.
Dunne previously took issue over the development squads’ strength and conditioning programmes being altered against his wishes. If Fitzgerald is looking at a long-term project (which is all Wexford can be) then he may endeavour to wrest back the power over issues such as this.
One unwelcome accompaniment that Fitzgerald will be well able for is the spotlight. You might wonder why a county languishing in Division 1B and without even a sniff of senior success in over 12 years places so much pressure on its hurling manager, but it is an unforgiving position.
Granted, Dunne was there five years and his lifelong association with the all-powerful Oulart-The Ballagh did not make him universally popular, but the 1996 All-Ireland winner faced a constant stream of criticism – culminating in the whisper campaign surrounding his decision to take a short holiday to Spain back in March.
“It’s beyond belief. You’d wonder why it happens in Wexford so often. Are there people who want us to fail and put out stuff just to cause trouble?” asked Dunne at the time.
Fitzgerald’s appointment will provide a short-term boost, particularly if he brings Donal Óg Cusack with him, as SportsJOE understands he will. But promotion from Division 1B or at least a Leinster final appearance will be the minimum expected of the 2013 All-Ireland winner.
Managing your own county brings all kinds of pressure but Fitzgerald knows from his time with Waterford that managing somebody else’s can be just as challenging.
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