Fair play, Davy, you heeded my advice and now you are flying...
WHEN Davy Fitzgerald came in to Wexford last year, he had a vision for what he wanted to do. It involved playing a sweeper at the back.
We had a public spat last summer after the All-Ireland quarter-final against Waterford, a game that was painful to watch. Little more than pin ball from one end of the field to the other, from one sweeper to another. He chose that day to take on the critics of his sweeper system and have a go at me for voicing my views.
Well, tongue in cheek, maybe I played a part in the development of his team because there is no doubting Wexford’s evolution in 2018.
Derek McGrath and Davy are very intelligent men. It’s easy to say it in the media that you can’t win an All-Ireland with a sweeper; there is no doubting, though, that you can’t win an All-Ireland without getting enough men forward.
And that’s where I felt it was selling teams short. Waterford operated with only one or two inside and Wexford were the same at different periods.
But Wexford in particular have evolved into a really smart attacking force this spring. That was evident in last weekend’s win against All-Ireland champions Galway and how lots of different players were piling forward.
With Shaun Murphy back minding shop, others have been given free rein to attack when they can. Look at full-back Liam Ryan last week, following his man out the field and bombing forward for a point. Paudie Foley hit five points, two from play, and might as well have been playing wing-forward at stages in the second half.
Diarmuid O’Keeffe epitomised the freedom to roam upfield. His first point came from down the right wing, almost in the corner-forward position; the next from the left wing – wherever he saw the space or the opportunity to attack he went.
In one way it’s very basic. It’s saying, “We have the ball, we have the possession, so let’s attack this”, knowing that the sweeper is there or that a wingforward can drop back to cover. In another way, its highly organised, superbly drilled, where every player knows their role.
Then there was the high fielding of Jack O’Connor. You’re looking at inter-county teams – Clare, Tipperary, Cork – who can struggle to win high ball in the half-forward line. O’Connor caught four puck-outs alone in the first half and was too hot to handle for Aidan Harte. TJ Reid is the obvious example of how important a primary ball-winner is.
Even though Kilkenny have been working the ball through the lines more this season, route one is still an option because of Reid. And Walter Walsh.
Conor McDonald was touted as the next big thing when he came on the scene, only for his form to cool last summer. Maybe that was down in part to the system, where he is often up against two defenders in the inside line.
There is certainly more support coming from out the field this season. Paul Morris is usually inside with him and you have Lee Chin driving forward all the time. Wexford’s confidence struck me. That was really manifested in McDonald in the closing quarter.
He looked back to the player of old. That last puck-out that he caught and made room for himself to point was a gamechanging one.
Rory O’Connor too made such a big impact. I remember seeing him in the Leinster minor championship against Offaly and he scored 1-2 in a flash – you could see the ease of his hurling even then. The obvious class. Last Sunday he was just superb.
When you look as well at Matthew O’Hanlon, Lee Chin, Kevin Foley, Paul Morris - all of a sudden they have a lot of top quality players.
So Wexford certainly have made huge progress under Fitzgerald. Why I think they’ll beat Kilkenny at Wexford Park in the today’s league semi-final? Because they have better players than Kilkenny right at this moment.
Brian Cody’s team is still a work in progress. After losing the first two games, they looked like they were relegation material. They deserve huge credit for turning things around. Watching them the last day against Offaly, that pride in Kilkenny and in their jersey is so telling.
The thing is, they are relying on TJ Reid and Walter Walsh up front and with the sweeper back, they might not get enough room. The young lads in the team like Richie Leahy are good. It’s just Cody has had to throw in so many of them in at the one time.
One issue Wexford have to sort is a consistent free-taker. If Joe Canning was playing for Wexford last Saturday, they would have won by 10 points. While he was scoring from 100 metres at his ease, Lee Chin was missing 45 metre frees to the left and right and Rory O’Connor missed from long range as well.
Any top team needs a nine out of 10 scorer – Reid and Canning are good examples.
Wexford need to find someone with the same consistency.
They have evolved into a really smart force in attack this spring