It’s a big step up for us, says Fitzgerald
‘The players are confident of meeting the challenge, maintaining momentum’
DAVY FITZGERALD insists that Wexford face a major challenge, whether he is on the sideline or in a box in the stand as per the win over Kilkenny.
In his first official engagement since his two-match ban expired, the Wexford manager was all smiles as he patrolled the Ferns Centre of Excellence for the official media gathering on Tuesday of last week.
As he entered the room his first words to the press were ‘did you miss me?’, before taking his seat in the middle of the media scrum.
The question was then thrown back at him by a journalist: ‘did you miss us?’.
‘Well, sometimes I feel I have,’ he joked, ‘and sometimes I feel I haven’t.’
The charismatic Clare man has been freed from his eight-week suspension for ‘interfering with an opposition player’ during Wexford’s Allianz League semi-final loss against Tipperary, and maybe he has missed us just as much as we have missed him.
While the suspension has hung over Fitzgerald during the early part of the summer, it has made little difference to his team as that famous provincial championship semi-final win over Kilkenny outlined. That led to an emotional surge of thousands of Model county supporters onto the pitch on the final whistle, having earlier set up this momentous occasion with a quarter-final victory over Laois.
Fitzgerald took his ban on the chin, with no appeal. He admitted that he thought about it, but the circus that surrounded the incident made him decide against it.
‘Naturally you look at every avenue and think about it. I thought about it but one of the deciding factors for me was how much all of ye (in the media) made of it. I just decided I am not giving ye another week of making another meal of it.
‘That would have been part of my reason, that there was already too much made of it. So I just decided to cut it dead, take it, and get on with it,’ he added.
And while he believed that his own suspension was fair, he felt that Tipperary’s Jason Forde, who was served with a one-match ban, was hard done by. Fitzgerald even contacted the Tipperary County Board to say that he would make representations on Forde’s behalf.
‘I actually hated the fact that he got banned as well. I think I rang Tipp at the time and said if there was anything I could do. I don’t mind getting a bit of stick whatsoever. But I didn’t go looking to give anyone stick.
‘I said to Tipp that if I could help them out, because no matter what, I didn’t like him getting a ban. There was very little in that, what he did. People will make a meal out of it and I’d prefer if he didn’t get any ban.
‘I deserved the ban. I was on the field, and if you’re on the field, that’s it, and you accept it. No problem, I can’t say I was hard done by because I did deserve a ban.
I’d have took my ban and hopefully he would have got off with his. That’s what I was actually hoping. That’s being honest about it. He’s a good hurler. I prefer to see him out hurling away for every game he could possibly play.
‘Look, it’s done for me, now it’s over, and I’m happy now it’s gone. If this was me three or four years ago I might say something different to ye now. But nah, it’s done, it’s over. It’s grand, no problem.
‘Trust me, I could go to games most weekends and you could see someone going in giving out to the referee, I didn’t actually give out to the referee. It wasn’t on his report. I thought they might have done me for encroachment onto the pitch, but I didn't go looking for a Tipperary player. Fitzgerald is now considering his options, whether to take up residence in the stand or return to the sideline for the provincial final clash with Galway. 'I wouldn't rule if out (staying in the stand). I'm seriously thinking about it. In the box I was able to see the game from a different perspective, able to see things quicker as to what was going on, on the pitch. I was able to react quicker as down on the sideline you are looking in at the game, while up in the stand the view is totally different. 'I felt I could see the game way better. There must be a logic in why the rugby managers do what they do. Soccer, It's a little different, It's a lot slower. 'But from a managerial point of view it makes more sense to be up there. So I'm considering It, maybe half up, half down. I will decide but It's worth thinking about. I've had a look at a box in Croke Park, so it's there. And I'd say they'd be happy if I was in a box too. 'We've a system in Wexford that flows pretty well. Everythhg flows pretty well. We've a good backroom staff. Very little changed. Everything worked the same way.
‘I talked to the lads. It was all grand. I was happy enough but I thought that they would be okay. My own concern was if they would be able to maintain the same intensity, the same drive.
‘But they’ve come through the last two games. We’ve got some momentum now it helps one hundred per cent. But you need more than that. Against Kilkenny it was very physical.’
Galway in the Leinster final will provide another big test. ‘Surprisingly this will be my first Leinster final to have managed in. I have managed in Munster finals, All-Ireland finals, but this is a first. Actually it’s a first meeting between the sides in a provincial final.
‘It’s going to be a huge game. Most of these guys, the biggest crowds they have played in front of would have been 25,000, maybe 30,000. Galway will be comfortable as they have that experience.
‘It’s a big step up for us. Galway have appeared in two All-Ireland finals, four out of six Leinster finals, won the National League this year.
‘I believe they have physically hardened as a result of those two All-Ireland finals. I really believe that. I think it has built up resilience for Galway, and I think they’re a stronger team for it.
Looking at Wexford so far, Fitzgerald is overwhelmed with the progress the side had made.
‘Look, when I met Diarmuid (Devereux) I was set a three-year plan, get Wexford promoted, get the county into the top six, get them into a Leinster final.
‘I’ve achieved all of that in six months which is remarkable. The transformation of this group of players has been remarkable. Their fitness levels have increased, the quality of their hurling improved.
‘We’ve a gameplan and the players are sticking with it no matter what happens. It’s a flexible plan but the players have settled in with it. I have a plan for Galway but I’m not going to reveal it.
‘Galway will carry a huge amount of experience into the game, then Kilkenny also had experience and remarkable success behind them. Galway have a lethal forward line but we have a plan.
‘We have a few injury concerns, Conor(McDonald) and Shaun (Murphy). We’ll know later but it’s 50-50. Hopefully everything will be okay.
‘It’s a big step up for us, but we are really looking forward to it. The whole county has got a lift. The players as a group are confident of meeting the challenge, maintaining momentum.
‘The first 20 minutes will be crucial. That’s when Galway will test us, will come after us. Galway are confident, they feel they are a better team, they just do not respect Wexford hurling,’ Fitzgerald claimed.
‘They led us by seven points in the league, we came back to beat them. They feel they should have won that game by 14 or 15 points.
‘That’s the confidence those guys have. We all know the championship will be different to league, but we have the players to stand up to the challenge, stand up to whatever Galway throw at us.
‘Galway believe they can hammer us. They believe they can put us to the sword. They just don’t rate Wexford. No doubt, it will be a tough ask of Wexford, but we will be ready for it, ready to give it one huge lash.
‘It should make for a great final before a huge crowd.’
Fitzgerald has talked up the task ahead of his players but that’s what he loves to do. He has looked at every possible angle, and now he is ready to take on one of the biggest challenges of his managerial career.