Well fit to pick up the pieces

Davy Fitzgerald tells Gavin Cummiskeyhe is intent on Waterford going one better in this year's championship

LAST TIME we spoke to Davy Fitzgerald was like visiting an old friend's house the day after a funeral. Just off the lobby of an eerily-quiet Burlington Hotel on the Monday morning after the All-Ireland final, Fitzgerald spoke candidly about the horrendous beating his Waterford team had just received from the kings of hurling.

Yesterday, with his players still in New York on a team holiday, and Fitzgerald at home sifting through the Deise underage ranks and club scene for a few necessary gems, while also keeping an eye on his Limerick IT men as the Fitzgibbon Cup arrives, he provided the same candour when plotting the road to redemption. But not before the essential glance back to Black September, 2008.

"Waterford people need to be patient," said the two-time All-Ireland winning former Clare goalkeeper. "We got stick after being beaten by Kilkenny but sure they just got a run on us and we couldn't respond. It's not finished but it happened. We will deal with it again.

"There are one or two more issues to address on it still. The way I see it is quite simple; it either makes you stronger or you fold up and go home. It made me stronger. Remember the two beatings Clare took back in the mid-90s. They were used as motivation, and the Kilkenny defeat can be as well."

Those thrashings, particularly the 18-point beating by Tipperary in the 1993 Munster final, became famous because Clare captured their breakthrough All-Ireland in 1995. Fitzgerald keeps a hold of these experiences as common ground to empathise with the current Waterford team that he decided to stay with for another two years, despite so many being on the wrong side of 30.

Considering the amount of rebuilding required over the coming seasons, surely he contemplated sticking purely with LIT and waiting for something more promising to come along? "I'm 110 per cent committed to Waterford. I took about six weeks away from it all before making the decision. I had to consider the amount of travelling involved for one, there is about 10 or 11 hours on the road.

"The supporters seemed, by and large, to be with us. There are always a few comments but that is usually down to personal agendas, be it inside the county board or in the papers. Normally there is a reason, like I dropped a relative or had a go at them at some time in the paper. There is always someone."

Sometimes conflict is unavoidable with Fitzgerald. Undoubtedly, he has garnered more praise than criticism down through the years but the "begrudgers", as Davy Fitz calls them, are part and parcel of Irish life. So are the people who tell you about them.

"When people tell me I just have a laugh and a giggle. I know there are always ulterior motives. I can only be as honest as I can."

He remains true to one salient point from last season. It should be remembered he only arrived in mid-summer after a shocking defeat to Clare to guide Waterford past Leinster's second tier and Munster's finest before succumbing to the magnificence of Brian Cody's men.

"I believe last year was a good year for Waterford, especially considering the condition they were in after the Clare defeat. I feel they didn't get the recognition they deserved for beating Tipperary (in the All-Ireland semi-final). That was some achievement. We were the only team to beat Tipperary in the whole season."

It was a season that started miserably then unexpectedly peaked with a long awaited return to September hurling before a disastrous finale that saw them limping home. The initial expectation was that we shall never see these hurling warriors again but, for now, Fitzgerald appears to be enticing them back to the well.

"They are nearly all back in but sure it has been difficult enough with them heading off to New York this week but I can tell you one thing for definite, we didn't train in the months we weren't supposed to. We gave them a gym programme but even that was not distributed until the first week in December.

"On that premise I do expect us to suffer a bit at the start of the league and we will be missing Ken McGrath (knee) and Eoin McGrath (groin), who've had operations, while we're leaving Tony Browne off until March or April."

Paul Flynn finally called time after 15 years of service but Browne, 36 on July 1st, will return? "Ah, I hope so. We're giving him as much time as he needs, anyway."

John Mullane and another four members of the Munster champions De La Salle have been excused until after their All-Ireland club commitments are complete. The absence of Brian Phelan, Mike O'Doherty, Kevin Moran and Páidí Nevin opens the gate for further experimentation and the much-needed injection of youth into the Waterford championship line-up.

"We might ship a few beatings along the way and if so we'll take them but there are already one or two prospects there. I can't judge properly after just one game so we'll see."

Others need to rediscover their inner fire. Dan Shanahan was the most electrifying hurler in the country two years ago. There was barely a peep out of him in 2008. Now 32, Shanahan is another member of the aging brigade but if Fitzgerald can inspire another explosive year from the big man then Waterford will remain a serious force.

On Wednesday night they are out against Tipperary in the Waterford Crystal Cup at St Molleran's, Carrick-on-Suir. Low-key stuff and an acceptance of using the National League to ensure the championship is a more fluent experience. Fitzgerald has a full run at it this time but so does the man he replaced, Justin McCarthy, who has since returned to management with Limerick.

"Yeah, we are looking at June 14th against Limerick. I think Limerick will be a big, big threat. Justin will be so anxious to prove a point to Waterford. We'll have to be at our best."