Tony Kelly knows that there’s much more to Davy Fitzgerald than the shouting, the roaring and the passion.
The Ballyea club man played under his fellow county-man for a couple of years with Limerick IT and for four years with the Clare seniors and he learned plenty during that time.
There’s method in the madness.
Fitzgerald steered Wexford to their first Leinster championship in 15 years on Sunday afternoon to complete the full collection of inter-county titles.
Beginning in 2010 when he won Munster with Waterford, he went onto win an All-Ireland with Clare in 2013, a National League in 2016 while Wexford’s win put the icing on the cake for the successful Sixmilebridge club man.
As a a manager, Davy Fitzgerald now has the full collection
All-Ireland (Clare, 2013) ✔️
Munster (Waterford, 2010) 👌
Leinster (Wexford, 2019) 🏆
National League (Clare, 2016) ✅
Fitzgibbon Cup (LIT, 2005 and 2007) 👏An outstanding, hungry manager and an incredible GAA man pic.twitter.com/1tfKGMxoWt
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 30, 2019
Speaking on his Sunday Game debut, the former Hurler of the Year paid tribute to Davy’s genius.
“Everyone else from the outside looking in knows him for his passion and enthusiasm for the game, but there’s a lot more going on than just going up and down the line, encouraging and motivating lads…
“When we had him in Clare, he took most of the training sessions, put a lot of detail into them.”
There’s no backseat role for Davy, he’s in the thick of it at every sesssion and that hands-on approach is what sets him apart.
“He’s very tactically aware, he’s adapted his style, he coached ten or fifteen years ago but he’s adapted to the modern style of it as well and to the modern era of hurling.”
'Davy brings that siege mentality' Clare's Tony Kelly on what his former manager brings to the party #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/d0v23MnJlE
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 30, 2019
The siege mentality Davy creates was one of Kelly’s main memories, and it’s clear to him that it’s an attitude that suits Wexford down to the ground.
“I think the biggest thing with him was this siege mentality he brings into the dressing room. He brought it into us with Clare in 2012 – us against the world kind of stuff. I think with Wexford, having gotten to the Leinster final two years ago, they could buy into it a bit more and they could see what he was doing is the right thing…”
The long cross country drives from Clare to Wexford have certainly paid off.
Hurling folk all over were impressed with Kelly’s punditry and he made another interesting point regarding what sets the Limerick hurlers apart.
“Outside of the oodles of talent that they have, that middle third, they make it an absolute battlegroundground. I think the key to them is 10, 11 and 12. Morrissey, Hegarty and Hayes, they’re up and down that field. From their own 45 to the opposition 45, their athleticism, it’s their biggest asset to them – outside of being gifted hurlers, it’s the way they play,” he said.
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