'Kildare could even beat us' Wexford legend's Joe McDonagh Cup fear

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Larry O'Gorman says he fears the drop to the Joe McDonagh Cup for Wexford, with even Kildare posing a threat to them next year.
Wexford have flirted with demotion to the second tier in the recent past, with only a heroic victory over Kilkenny two years ago preserving their status in the Leinster Championship following a shock defeat to Westmeath. They have stabilised under Keith Rossiter in the last two seasons but failed to make the knockout stages this year after a spate of retirements, with Galway and Dublin moving ahead of them in the Leinster pecking order and Offaly now snapping at their heels.
O'Gorman was one of the stars of the Wexford side that won the All-Ireland in 1996, their first in 28 years, though that isolated success will be three decades old next year and it's difficult to see where the next title will come from just now. Their best chance since 1996 arguably came in 2019, when they lost a commanding lead in the All-Ireland semi-final to 14-man Tipperary, who went on to win the title.
'2019 is still haunting me, to be quite honest,' says O'Gorman. 'You know, losing that game to Tipperary in the semi-final, I think it took a lot out of the players. I think that was their best year of hurling for Wexford since '96 and when Davy [Fitzgerald] moved on, ok, we brought [Darragh] Egan in and we have Keith Rossiter there now, but I don't think we're at the level that we were when we were back in 2019.
'Going forward again, I think it's going to be a big ask for us to keep building the strength and depth that we have, that we are hoping to have, but I don't see too much coming forward, to be quite honest, and it sort of hurts you to say that, but that's the way we are in Wexford. You know, we get a good group of lads for a number of years and we fall off for a while, then we have to rebuild.'
Last winter, Wexford lost Matthew O'Hanlon, Liam Og McGovern and Diarmuid O'Keeffe to retirement and while there is no indication that Lee Chin will join them during this close season, at 32, his inter-county career is in its twilight, yet his importance to the side has never been greater.
'One man will lead it for long enough, and after that, when he falls away, who in line is next to step up to the plate?' O'Gorman wonders. Wexford and Faythe Harriers legend Larry O'Gorman at Croke Park for the launch of the 2025 Beko Club Champion, an initiative to reward and celebrate local Leinster GAA club heroes who go above and beyond to help their local community and club. For more information visit leinstergaa.ie/beko-club-champion/. (Image: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile)
Looking at the sides that Wexford are scrapping with in Leinster, O'Gorman cites the momentum that Offaly have from their recent underage successes, while he expects Dublin to kick on again next year. Then you have Kildare joining the Leinster Championship next year after winning the Joe McDonagh Cup, a county that beat Wexford at under-20 level in 2021.
'From a Kildare point of view, their progress has risen so quick up the ladder that they can only get better. Now, have they got the skill levels? Have they got the drive to stay up at that level? Or is this just a pop up and a pop back down?
'The club in Naas are producing top-class hurlers. But yeah, Kildare are going to be a threat to Wexford as well. They're great hurlers, but the level we're at, I wouldn't be surprised if Kildare could even beat us.'
O'Gorman feels that Wexford need an outside figurehead to drive underage development within the county.
'It starts from structures of under-14, under-16 to rebuild a new foundation in Wexford hurling. It could take five years, it could take 10 years. We're going to be here anyway, but as long as we're not down in the Joe McDonagh or the Lory Meagher - that could be our biggest problem.
'We need the likes of an Anthony Daly or a Donal O'Grady or someone like that to come in and take over an underage structure in Wexford and do it for a five-year plan or a 10-year plan and I think that's the only way it can work for Wexford.
'We have loads of academy teams, we have loads of lads in helping. We have guys from clubs that are coming in, giving their time with development squads. But we're not getting too many answers out of it.
'I was involved with underage with Wexford. I looked at a programme the other day, 2015, out of 64 players, there was only two of them playing for Wexford (senior now). That was the Tony Forristal. Two teams, A and B team, and we have only two players out of 64 players playing for Wexford today.'