New faces on the hurling panel need ample game time

WITH NO form guide to go by, both the Allianz Hurling and Football Leagues will be vital for counties like Wexford. The competitions should be well advanced by now, along with the subsidiary tournaments being completed. But when Covid-19 struck this island all changed, with the GAA feeling the full impact for a second successive season.

Both the leagues and championships are restructured (you can see full details on the front page of this sport section), with collective training pushed back.

Inter-county squads are only allowed back to full training on Monday, April 19, which will leave limited preparation time for the start-up of the Allianz Hurling League on the weekend of May 8/9, with football beginning the following weekend.

Irrespective of the changes, the 2021 season will bring new challenges for Wexford in both codes. There will certainly be no slackening off but with the teams having had long enough breaks, they should be showing a real appetite for competitive games.

While it is difficult to make judgements with so little to consider, without doubt it’s a huge season for Wexford hurlers in particular after the disappointments of 2020.

For a time it looked as if Wexford were building momentum, having qualified for the league quarter-finals, with just one defeat behind them. But with the knockout stages of the league aborted, Wexford were just left with a championship challenge along with the defence of their provincial title.

Wexford’s season ended dismally. After a heavy championship defeat to Galway, more disappointment was to follow, with just a token challenge against Clare in the qualifiers when the Banner county ran out handsome winners.

Wexford will have five games in their group in the league, but there will be no extended campaign, with the top two teams in Division 1A and 1B meeting in a final should they clash in the championship, similar to last year when Limerick beat Clare.

There will be a shortened campaign again this year which will not allow managers time to introduce players as they may have liked, and to blood them in an effort to bridge the gap in the leap from club to inter-county, particularly with the championship in mind.

Still, the league will be important to giving some of the players Davy Fitzgerald has introduced into the squad an opportunity to stake a claim, while at the same time adding to pressure for places in the starting 15. The league will still serve a useful purpose in giving some of those players a shot at the big time.

Supporters may not see too many changes when Wexford’s campaign gets under way, but it’s still important for the backroom team to assess the players introduced.

And in doing that the management will quickly find out if the players are ready to graduate, but patience is also key with those they have brought on board for a first time.

With limited squad time for the players where management can learn quite a lot about their capabilities, that didn’t happen last year and now there will have to be a greater dependency on the league to assess their new personnel.

Wexford exited the championship last November so it has been a long wait for competitive games. Now every league game is going to be vital, and there’s no doubt that Davy Fitzgerald and his squad face a real test of character.

It will be interesting to see what 2021 will offer, but let’s hope that Wexford will be seeking to develop new players with the main focus being on the championship.

Meanwhile, football manager Shane Roche is determined to progress his side in what is his first full season in charge. Introduced as interim boss following the departure of Paul Galvin, he had three games, two league and one championship, as his first real challenge.

Now he has put his faith in a mix of youth and experience who have been carrying out their own individual programmes over the past few months. They will be looking to develop a strong squad despite having just two group games, against Waterford and Carlow, and hopefully further outings in the knockout stages that could lead to promotion.

With such limited game time it’s going to present a real challenge, but let’s hope this young side can achieve promotion which would be a real boost for the game in the county.