Fitzgerald’s Déise future in doubt

DAVY FITZGERALD last night revealed he is unsure about his future as Waterford hurling boss.

The Clare native’s two-year term came to an end with defeat in yesterday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final to Tipperary. Fitzgerald admitted it is ‘a massive commitment’ travelling from his home in Clare to Waterford for training and matches, and he will need to consult with Déise board officials before deciding whether he will remain in charge.

“I don’t know as my two years are up. We’ve had a great three years and won a lot of championship games. We’ll sit down and talk. It’s a massive commitment and there’s a lot of driving. You’re leaving home everyday at 2 and you don’t get home until 12. But I like it that way.”

Yesterday’s defeat could lead to the retirement of long-serving stars but Fitzgerald is adamant that the current bunch of players can still deliver the Liam MacCarthy Cup which has eluded the county since 1959.

He also hinted that he wants to continue in the inter-county management game.

“I’ve worked with a great bunch of lads. There is a great team spirit there and there are serious leaders. Some probably won’t be happy that they didn’t see enough of game time. I have a job to do, to pick the best Waterford team I could and trust me, you’ll have lads who are disappointed but I wanted to win as much as any of them,’’ he said.

“You look at training, see who’s going well, who’s hopping off the ground and that’s what I tried to do. I think that’s why Waterford had 24 or 25 players they could use any day for championship this year. You might have a few that’ll go, who’ve been great servants but you’ve young lads coming again and I think the future is bright for Waterford.

“I have always said this to the lads, when you wake up tomorrow say to yourself: ‘Did you do everything you possibly could and were you as honest as you possibly could have been?’

“I can say that for sure. I enjoy this game, I love it and I still want to be involved in it no matter what the story is. I want to be on front of ye again under better circumstances.

“I still believe this team can go on. A Munster title wasn’t too bad. I remember in 2008 they didn’t think they would be going back for another one. Ye said to me coming down that things were dead and gone. We are not 100 miles off the best.”

Fitzgerald had no qualms in conceding they collided with a superior outfit and believes that Liam Sheedy’s side are capable of competing with five-in-a-row chasing Kilkenny in the final on September 5th.

“Tipperary are a good team and their fighting spirit was evident there again, they probably timed their run well. It’s very hard to keep a run going all year and now they’re starting to hit a good bit of momentum. We saw last year that they can put it up to Kilkenny.