Dual star dilemma hampering Wexford hurling, says Rossiter
Rossiter, who will line out for Oulart-the-Ballagh against Ballyhale Shamrocks in the Leinster Club SHC tomorrow, believes the Model County’s recent football success has had an adverse effect on the hurlers.
Ciarán Lyng, Redmond Barry and Brian Malone are accomplished hurlers who have been concentrating on football while former All Star Matty Forde was also considered a talented hurler.
Wexford’s 2009 hurling year was also badly affected by long-term injuries to key players and Rossiter said: “It was a crazy amount and for a county like Wexford, we don’t have a pool like Kilkenny and Tipp. We’re fighting strong with football here too.
“A guy who is multi-talented at soccer, football and hurling when he’s young could be developed into a good hurler if he’s an athlete.
“The south of the county is football and I’m sure the footballers would say the same about the hurlers in the north of the county.
“My argument is all about hurling but it’s killing us that there are players out there with the footballers. That’s their choice but they would be an addition to the Wexford hurlers if they were here.”
Rossiter, a sales rep with Dunboyne-based Kilrasan concrete, is confident his own injury hell is over as he targets a full intercounty season in 2010.
Rossiter, who made his senior championship debut for Wexford in 2003, explained: “I’m in the best shape that I’ve been in for the last two years. In 2007 I tore my groin against Tipperary in the All-Ireland quarter-final. I kept playing with that and ended up tearing the ligament off the bone. That led into 2008 and I thought that seven or eight weeks of rest might heal it.
“I played against Dublin in two matches but I could hardly walk during the second game. That just finished it for me and I couldn’t hurl against Kilkenny in the Leinster final. I didn’t train at all for the rest of the year and while I came on against Waterford, I shouldn’t have even togged out.”
Renowned surgeon and former Meath footballer Gerry McEntee performed surgery in November 2008 to cure the problem but Rossiter’s excitement and eagerness to return earlier this year saw the injury flare up again.
He reflected: “I had a very quiet Christmas with the rehab and running around the pitch in Oulart on my own. January came and we had a new management with Colm Bonnar in charge. I had a good talk with him and he didn’t want to see me until I was back running.
“I got back for the Offaly game in the league and I was so excited to be back that I did too much in two weeks. I was training like a man possessed and aggravated the problem.
“A friend of mine said that I should have held back from the Offaly game and I should have listened because I had done a small bit of damage. I thought I would be back for the league final (also against Offaly) but Colm politely asked me to go back to the club and that’s where it ended for me really.”
Club boss and former Wexford ace Liam Dunne advised Rossiter to rest completely for three weeks and while Rossiter missed the entire Leinster championship, he returned for the All-Ireland qualifier exit at home to Limerick.
He said: “That was the end of 2009, beaten on a miserable night.”
But the club has provided solace for 26-year-old Rossiter, who collected a fourth county SHC medal this year.
Tomorrow, Oulart will take on Kilkenny kingpins Shamrocks at Wexford Park and he said: “We’re up against the four-in-a-row Kilkenny champions, who have an awesome set-up. You couldn’t ask for a bigger challenge for a club team like ourselves.”
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