We have huge, athletic men but they can all hurl as well
MICHEÁL DONOGHUE has approached Galway’s All-Ireland defence in the same sensible manner that he did last summer, when his team finally ended their county’s 29-year wait for an All-Ireland title.
The mantra remains the same for the affable manager. One game at a time.
It is how they looked at 2017 and how they are going to look at 2018.
And it is working. Even in second gear, this physically imposing and impressive Galway team don’t look like they can be touched this summer.
Donoghue admits that his players are now playing with the confidence that comes from being All-Ireland champions.
‘That is just testament to the players that we have,’ he said. ‘They took a lot of confidence from our success last year and it is probably only now that we are seeing that come across in our play. But we are under no illusions that they are going to be tougher tests ahead.
‘Wexford are still going to have a massive say in this Championship, as are Kilkenny and the Munster teams. We are just taking it one game at a time.’
And he doesn’t believe there is any extra pressure on his team to repeat the feat of the Galway team of the late 1980s and put All-Irelands back-to-back.
‘Listen, last year there was perceived pressure on us because we were favourites from a long way out. But we don’t pay any heed to that, these guys are just hungry for success. We are just taking it one game at a time, and that stood to us.’
Galway’s physicality was clear for all to see in Wexford Park, but Donoghue again defended his team’s physical dominance and says that apart from power, they also have a team full of hurlers.
‘I think in the last week, a lot has been made about our physicality. We are really fortunate with this group, we have huge big men and they are athletic.
‘But the overwhelming factor is that they are all able to hurl. We have 36 lads pushing there every night and there is huge competition to get into the 15 and when everyone is pushing, that bodes well. We are just fortunate that this is the group we have at the minute.’
Having finished strongly against Kilkenny, Donoghue was just glad that his team got a fast start and went for Wexford’s throats.
‘I think we finished strongly in the game last week and we just talked about continuing that vein of form. The boys started very well and we were unlucky not to get another goal or two, but in fairness Mark [Fanning] made a couple of great saves.’
Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald admitted that he is dreading the idea of going up to Nowlan Park now for what will be his team’s fourth game in a row.
‘I know Galway were very powerful and they’re right up there, but I believe we’re better than that. I just think we were flat today. I dread to think how we’re going to be next week.’
It was suggested to Fitzgerald that Lee Chin, his talismanic captain, didn’t look himself and struggled to get to the pitch of the battle.
‘It wasn’t just Lee Chin that wasn’t himself. A lot of our players didn’t look like themselves and that is because we were flat and had to play three games in a row,’ Fitzgerald countered.
‘What I am looking for is a bit of common sense. Maybe teams should play for two weeks and then have a break. It is certainly something to be looked at.
‘And this isn’t something I am just saying tonight. I said this before the Championship started, that it was going to be tough for the teams that had to play three or four games in a row. We have to go up to Kilkenny now next week and they will be mad for road, having had a breather this week,’ Fitzgerald said.
Given that both managers were echoing each other in Wexford Park last night, their voices deserve to be heard.
The new Championship structure has re-energised the sport of hurling but Wexford’s lethargic performance last night points up one obvious flaw.
Next summer, it needs to be extended by a week so that every team is afforded the breather that Kilkenny got this weekend.