Model man Guiney walks well-trodden path as Davy train rolls on
DAVE GUINEY won a Celtic Cross along with his brother Rod when Wexford rode the crest of a wave to an emotional All-Ireland title in 1996. He was only a squad player at the time and it would be another seven years before he made his first Championship start at the ripe old age of 33. Jack Guiney, now firmly playing a role in Davy Fitzgerald’s revolution in the south-east, believes that he might have been the cause of his father’s career taking so long to get going. ‘He was on the panel for 13 years before he got his first start in the Championship, against Waterford in 2003,’ Guiney explains. ‘He was actually on the team during the League in 1993, in those games against Cork that went to a few replays. I was born on the day of one of the replays. ‘My mother went into labour but she told him to go ahead to the match. He was in a car accident on the way to the match and my auntie got two speeding fines. He ended up with a concussion, couldn’t play the match and never got his place back on the team after that. ‘He had to wait 13 years to get back on the team so he can blame me for messing up his career a small bit,’ Guiney says with a smile. Guiney admits he wouldn’t share his father’s perseverance and stick around a squad for 13 years to get his first Championship start. ‘I think there’s very little reward for players on the periphery of the thing. It takes a fair character to stick with it. You do need numbers 34 and 35, need them more than lads that are playing to drive on training. ‘I think my Dad was a bit of an extremist. He probably trained harder than I ever will. We are two completely different people. I’d have a more laid-back attitude to preparation than he did. He was very meticulous and professional in every aspect of his life, whereas I would be more laid-back.’ ‘Staying on the panel so long was something that he felt he had to do. He has a love for hurling and probably had it more than his brother. He’s some man to put his mind to something and achieve. He was on the panel in ’96 but I think 1993 and playing those games was a bigger deal for him. I have seen him mark the likes of DJ Carey and John Mullane, and DJ will tell you that he was a hard man to mark. He was just dog whereas I would have a different attitude.’ The younger Guiney’s more carefree attitude was evident in 2016 when he decided to go travelling for the year. It was an itch that needed to be scratched — and facilitated by the fact that he was jettisoned from Liam Dunne’s Wexford panel the previous summer for a breach in discipline. ‘I was probably always going to go back in. But it is good to have someone like Davy in there as he brings a fair level of energy to training,’ Guiney says. Even though he enjoyed his time in San Francisco particularly, where he played alongside county stars such as Limerick’s Declan Hannon and Offaly’s Brian Carroll, he did feel a yearning for home whenever he watched the
Championship games in the Irish bars. ‘I was talking to Paudie Foley about this recently. He did the same trip as I did last year. You are watching Wexford playing and when they are doing well, you kick yourself because you are not there. But even when they are doing bad, you are kind of kicking yourself as well. ‘You don’t want to miss out on it but you also have to scratch the itch or else you will probably wake up when you are 40 and if you don’t do it, you will look back and say “why didn’t I do that?” ‘I went to San Fran and travelled around California. Did a bit of hurling out there. I am glad I did it. ‘My only travelling before that was being in Boston for a summer when I was 18. The level the commitment has gone to now, you really have to want to do it and going away cements an attitude towards wanting to do it. ‘You come back refreshed and more energised. You really want to be there when you come back.’ Of course, it helps that Wexford are doing so well. Top of the table in Division 1A after the opening two games and playing with a real verve and confidence, they visit Semple Stadium tomorrow evening being the story of the early part of the spring. Although Fitzgerald is preaching caution and trying to dampen down the hype. ‘I don’t think Davy is trying to dampen down the hype, I think he’s just being straight,’ Guiney said. ‘If you look at the mistakes we are making in games, we have a lot of work to do.’ For the moment, though, Wexford are catching the eye and everyone will sit up and take notice if they leave Thurles tomorrow evening with two more points.