By John Harrington

Former Wexford hurler Keith Rossiter believes the appointment of Davy Fitzgerald as the county team hurling manager will put a pep in the step of all the players.

Rossiter also predicts Fitzgerald himself will be motivated by the challenge of managing Wexford, especially the opportunity it will can give him to go head to head with Brian Cody’s Kilkenny in this year’s Leinster SHC Quarter-Final.

“Yeah a good hype around about Davy alright, look he’s a great experienced manager,” says Rossiter.

“I suppose he’s known for his antics on the sideline and the buzz he brings to match-day so looking forward to seeing the way he works and how he gets on with the boys, see a bit of a pep in their step again, and see how they get on.

“They’ve a huge carrot there in the championship as well, they’ve the round robin winners and then move on to play Kilkenny in Wexford Park, what other incentive does Davy want?

“He’s always wanted a good bash at Brian Cody, win a game and you have Brian Cody in Wexford Park, that’s huge carrot for the boys.”

Fitzgerald brought Waterford to an All-Ireland Final in his very first season managing them, and won an All-Ireland with Clare in his second year in that job.

But Rossiter says it would be unrealistic to expect him to deliver immediate success with this Wexford team.

“I suppose Davy is after being given a two-year contract with the option of a third, it’s going to take his two years I think,” says Rossiter.

“He’s a huge success rate in his first year with teams but I think it’s going to take a little bit of time with these lads, they’re still very young, the average age is very low in Wexford so it’s going to be a bit of work.

“If you’re looking at goals you’re looking at really competing in 1B, which we haven’t really done in the last couple of years, we need to get out of it at some stage in the next two years and be pushing on in Leinster.

“I don’t really look at All-Ireland stages until Leinster is over so Leinster is the big thing. Leinster to me is all about getting your hands on the bob O’Keeffe Cup, it’s about getting back to that day that you’re at least competing for a Leinster title.

“When I was growing up and started with Wexford, Leinster finals were taken for granted. Fair enough you weren’t winning them but you were playing in them. That day is long gone so it’s a matter of getting back there.”

Former Wexford defender Rossiter retired from inter-county hurling after a 12-year career that started in 2003 and ended in 2014.

The 33-year-old is still one of the best club hurlers in the county and recently helped Oulart-The-Ballagh to yet another senior title, but insists there’s no chance he could be tempted to come out of retirement by Fitzgerald’s appointment.

“For the first year that I retired it was painful to go watch matches to be honest with you," says Rossiter. "You’re just sort of wanting to go get the gear and give the lads a bit of a dig out and get onto the field and go play because it’s all big matches, there’s crowds at it and it’s where you want to be.

“I think I actually went away for the Cork game in 2015, I just booked a holiday and got away because I couldn’t look at it anymore. I was in a bar in the Canaries looking at the Cork game by myself and I was happy enough to be there because i couldn’t face it anymore.

“Then once the first year goes by, you’re in your second year, Oulart had a good spin, won the Leinster, that sort of took the focus off Wexford for me then and i didn’t miss it as much.

“I’m heading into my third year and I’m sort of getting used to the lifestyle of a club hurler now.”