WATERS VITAL TO THE CAUSE
Daithí’s experience crucial
IT HASN’T been the easiest of starts for Shane Roche and his Wexford Senior football management team, but he believes the return to full fitness of the experienced Daithí Waters is crucial to their prospects for the new season.
The St. Martin’s clubman suffered a horrible ankle injury when assisting his club in the early minutes of last year’s hurling championship, with his season restricted as a result.
Despite that setback, he worked his way back to play a part in the county’s two delayed league games and championship outing against Wicklow from October 17 to November 1.
‘Daithí had been carrying a back problem which ultimately led to the ankle injury,’ Roche said.
‘But after having the injury assessed and with top-class treatment he was able to play some part in those delayed games.
‘In the pre-season, Daithí has been working on his own individual fitness and is in great shape at the moment. I expect him to return showing a high degree of fitness and ready to contribute to the squad.
‘His experience and football ability is crucial to a side that is a mixture of experience and youth.
‘He will bring that experience and physicality to the outfield. It’s great to have him back.
‘Along with Brian (Malone) and Ben (Brosnan), their experience will be invaluable.
‘When you have experienced players like that to mix with the younger players, it’s easier to get momentum.
‘There’s no denying that the return of a fully-fit Daithí leaves the squad in a healthier position,’ Roche added.
There are few players who have made such a massive contribution to Wexford football.
A big change in Wexford’s play around the middle third was noticeable on the return of Waters, with the team management now expecting even more this season.
‘Daithí still has loads left in him. It’s not just a case of him turning up, the younger players look up to him.
‘His message is clear - we want to win games. We are all in this together so we are looking forward to having a fully-fit Daithí.’
While Roche is hailing the return of Waters, he is resigned to being without two players for the opening stages of the new playing season.
Ciarán Kavanagh (HWH-Bunclody) and Tom Byrne (Kilmore) have both been ruled out for the foreseeable future with shoulder injuries.
Roche, who is carrying a squad of 38 players for individual training programmes, will not be adding to that figure.
‘Ciarán underwent surgery on his shoulder on Saturday and will be out for four to five months,’ Roche said.
‘As regards Tom, he suffered a shoulder injury in work. He is undergoing intensive treatment at the moment.
‘It’s not yet known how long he will be out, but it will be quite some time.’
Apart from those two issues, the squad is relatively injury-free at present.
‘They are all working on their physical conditioning. We will utilise this extra time to improve our physical strength to meet the challenges once games resume.
‘Once we get the green light for games we will be ready.’
WEXFORD MANAGER Shane Roche is stressing the importance of the Allianz League as his squad members continue to train in isolation.
While the leagues could be the first competitions to be axed given the GAA’s loss of elite status under Level 5 restrictions, the New Ross native said it’s of the utmost importance to counties like ours.
Wexford missed out on promotion from Division 4 in the final group game last season, losing at home to Wicklow, but even with any re-ordering of inter-county and club fixtures over the coming days, Roche feels that time should be afforded for staging the league.
‘The league has already been restructured, with the divisions divided in two,’ he said.
‘It still gives counties like Wexford much-needed game time and also a chance of playing for promotion. It’s important that the National League is played, particularly with the new championship structure leading to the Tailteann Cup. With the Tailteann Cup, the league is important for status moving forward.
‘Many counties like Wexford are rebuilding and re-focusing, so games are of the utmost importance. Should the league be lost it also confines teams to a division for a season longer, and it would deny the likes of ourselves the opportunity of pushing towards promotion to Division 3.’
As Wexford went out of the provincial championship in the opening round last year, he knows the importance of competitive games.
Roche’s reaction to the news that inter-county activity could not take place under the Government’s Level 5 restrictions was one of disappointment, but he also understands the reasoning behind it.
‘I was disappointed but, taking a broader look, we are in the middle of a pandemic. We have to abide by the restrictions having lost our elite status.
‘Up to this we thought we would be back training in the middle of next month and playing the league in April. To have that bit of hope taken away was a disappointment, especially when eight weeks ago the players were considered elite athletes.’
However, Roche is delighted with the positive response from his players, who have been undertaking their own individual programmes over the past few months.
‘We also have to look at this as an opportunity to continue our physical training programme. They have had a professional programme in place, with Pete Shaw (strength and conditioning) and Darragh Henry (nutritionist) overseeing it.
‘This is our first full season as a management. We all take our own group of players to contact each week, with Philip (Wallace), Anthony (Masterson), and myself undertaking a rota system with individual groups, so over the month we will all have spoken to each individual player.
‘Physically we were way behind other counties. We saw that last season. We had a nice football game against Limerick which we won, but against Wicklow in both league and championship we saw we were not up there physically. With a lack of physicality along with the conditions, we suffered.’
Roche is delighted with the response of the players but has pleaded for patience. ‘We have a squad of 38 players undertaking their own individual training. They are all putting in a huge effort.
‘Regarding the squad, we will not be taking a further look at numbers until we get back as a group to training together.
‘As it stands we will continue our physical preparations so whenever we get up and running the players will be in peak condition.’
He did stress that it’s going to take more than one season to get up there physically, on a level with other counties.
‘At the start we were somewhat behind but even at this stage you can see the improvement in the players’ physical conditioning. But it’s going to take time.
‘We are going to win games and lose games, but patience is of the utmost importance. This is a long-term programme for Wexford football. We have the players, so once we reach the required physical conditioning, the game has a bright future.
‘Right now we are starting to train at an elite level. At no point are we building expectations, but that is why the National League is important to us.
‘We’re in there with Waterford, Carlow and London, three important games. Win those and it pushes us into the promotion play-offs. That’s huge for Wexford at the present time.
‘Up to recently we had been losing to those sides, so we know what it takes to win those games, particularly as we showed against Carlow last season.
‘When we get the green light to resume games we will be ready.’