Larry O’Gorman backs appointment of Keith Rossiter to bring back passion to Wexford hurling

Larry O’Gorman has welcomed Keith Rossiter’s appointment as Wexford senior hurling manager, with the 1996 All-Ireland winner feeling the time was right for a homegrown boss to be given the role.

Oulart-The Ballagh clubman Rossiter is a former Wexford player and he managed the county’s under-20 hurlers for the last two seasons. He has been handed a three-year term and included in his backroom team is former Wexford goalkeeper Damien Fitzhenry.

Liam Dunne was the last Wexford man to take charge of the county’s senior hurlers, with the 1996 All-Ireland winner managing the team from 2012 until 2016.

Davy Fitzgerald replaced Dunne in late 2016 and the Clare native – who guided Wexford to a Leinster title in 2019 – remained at the helm until the end of the 2021 campaign. Tipperary’s Darragh Egan was in charge for the last two seasons.

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“We’ve been asking for it for the last number of years,” says O’Gorman. “It’s no disrespect to anybody who has been there in the past, but I think the people of Wexford also wanted that.

“Was there anyone there in the last number of years who were good enough to step up to the plate? Maybe not, to be honest. I don’t know whether anyone had the qualities that especially Davy would have had.

“But a lot of people are very positive about the appointment, which is great. Keith himself is a great hurling man. Whether he’ll be successful or not is another thing.”

Above all else, O’Gorman feels that Rossiter can imprint a style of hurling that suits the Wexford players. O’Gorman believes the chopping and changing of managers and coaches with different ideas about how the game should be played has not helped Wexford.

“Our style of hurling in Wexford, we all know, in the 90s we were driven by passion, fighting spirit and leave everything on the field,” he recalls.

“Then the last number of years I think we’ve skipped over some of that. Some of the performances that we have played over the last four or five years, there were games that we weren’t able to get up for, games that we should have won and won handy, for some reason the fight within the players seemed to just die away and why is that?

“There’s a difference now with a guy who wore the Wexford jersey before, full of passion, full of spirit and he’s going to get that message through to the players that this is what we want, so I think it’ll be a new change of hurling in Wexford under Keith Rossiter.

“There’s no question about it. From a neutral point of view within the county, we’re delighted that we have our own flesh and blood in. That’s what people wanted to see.”

One of the challenges facing Rossiter will be to make Wexford a consistent force. All too often in recent years they have hopped aboard the rollercoaster of highs and lows with their performances.

“I think consistency has to be number one in Wexford, try get a good run at it and get as many wins under your belt at all costs.

“We still know that Kilkenny and Galway are going to be the big two teams [in Leinster next year], but with everybody fit and everybody pulling together then we are not too far from it.”

– O’Gorman was talking at the launch of Leinster GAA’s 2023 Beko Club Champion campaign. Aiming to highlight the unheralded volunteer work carried out by clubs and club members. Nominations are open, giving clubs a chance of winning €1,000 worth of GAA equipment. Full details on the Leinster GAA website.