Lee Chin of Wexford poses for a portrait with the Liam MacCarthy cup during the national launch of the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship at Spanish Point in Clare. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
At 31 years of age and in his 12th season of inter-county hurling, Lee Chin has never looked better.
Were you to pick an 2024 All-Stars team right now, he’d be one of the very first players you’d ink on the team-sheet.
He’s currently sitting second in the top-scorers list with 3-54 scored from five matches, 1-15 of it from play, but scores alone don’t capture just how influential he’s been for the Slaneysiders.
His force of nature physicality, ball-winning ability, speed, skill, and finishing ability have made him nigh on unmarkable for opposition defences.
The Wexford captain has always been famously fastidious about having his body in great physical condition, but he believes playing so well at this stage in his career is down to a healthy mindset more than anything else.
"You know what, it's more that the older you get you tend to relax a bit more," he told GAA.ie "You probably use your time a bit more wisely in terms of chilling out.
"My approach to games hasn't changed a whole lot in terms of the physical side of things. But mentally I think I've learned to become a bit better at tuning out, relaxing, and finding something else to think about and I'm just not sweating the small stuff.
"There's probably a bit of a difference in that as my career has gone on. I don't know if that's helping me or not, but I find I'm a little bit more at peace and a little bit more at ease when I'm not on the hurling pitch and when I'm just trying to enjoy life a little bit more and so I am really enjoying my hurling too.
“It's just one of those years where some things go right for you and that's just the way it is. I'm enjoying my time with the panel and with Keith. There's a lot of new faces around and that's brought a bit of life into me as well.
“As some of the lads you've played hurling with through most of your career start to leave the dressing-room each year, the new lads that then come in are like a breath of fresh air at times and give you a new bit of energy and I'm getting a bounce off them at the moment.”
Lee Chin of Wexford signs autographs for supporters after the Leinster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 4 match between Carlow and Wexford at Netwatch Cullen Park in Carlow. Photo by Michael P Ryan/Sportsfile.
The Wexford team as a whole certainly seems energised by the emergence of talented young players like Cian Byrne, Eoin Ryan, Conor Foley, Corey Byrne Dunbar, and Cian Molloy.
Not only do they have the raw ability to thrive at the highest level, what has impressed Chin the most about them is their mindset.
“You could see them coming through from underage and you could tell that they're great prospects, they have a lot of hurling," he says.
“I suppose a lot of them are getting their chance last year and this year but mainly this year. They've been a real breath of fresh air in terms of what they bring. Even just their mindset, they're not shy. That's one great thing about them, they're characters, and you need that in a dressing-room and they're really adding to it.
“On the field they're doing their hurling as well so we're absolutely delighted with the young lads that are there and what they’re bringing to us as a whole.”
The new generation have certainly made their mark, but Wexford remain heavily reliant on Chin’s generation who have given great service to the cause.
He’s campaigned with men like Matthew O’Hanlon, Liam Ryan, Liam Og McGovern, Coor McDonald and Mark Fanning for most of his career and they’re still as driven as ever to bring glory to the county.
“We've been together for the last 12 or 13 years and then you have other lads who are there eight or nine years,” says Chin.
“A lot of lads in the dressing-room where there in 2019 when we had a small bit of success in winning Leinster. It was a great year and when you get a taste of it you want more.
“That's what we're chasing every year, that bit of success, but it's not easy to come by. We're going to keep our heads down and keep trying anyway.
"Obviously we want to progress in the championship and have a good cut off it. We have a big test coming this week against Laois and we won’t be taking them for granted. It's three weeks since our last game and we're hungry to get going again.
“We want to get back out onto the pitch and we're just really looking forward to the challenge. Looking forward to what's coming.”
