Rockett boost for Déise

Former Waterford football star Eddie Rockett is set to return to the county squad.

Rockett soldiered with the Déise for almost a decade before losing his place on the team and then withdrawing due to time constraints.

However, the Stradbally man feels he can again give the required commitment, a development which is music to the ears of new boss Niall Carew.

“Eddie is a fine, tough footballer who has had a good year with Stradbally as they won another county title and were so unlucky to lose to Castlehaven in the Munster championship” said Carew.

“That game showed the standard of football and footballer that is in Waterford, that they could cause the Cork champions so much trouble and should really have beaten them.

“Eddie is just one of those and it will be great to have him back in fighting for a spot.”

Carew’s insistence on total commitment means he will not be making any approaches to county hurlers such as Michael ‘Brick’ Walsh or Shane Walsh.

He explained: “If you’re not committed to football 100%, you won’t be on the panel. I’d wish the hurlers all the best of luck and while there might be six or seven guys there that could be worth a look at in terms of making the football squad, if they’re committed to the hurling, good luck to them. But they can’t give me 100% and it wouldn’t be fair on the people giving everything to bring these lads in.”

The Kildare man was delighted with the response from the players on Saturday, as they had their first get-together since his appointment.

The strength and conditioning team of Noel Mallon and Trevor Carew is liaising with physio Cian Ó Conchúir to draw up programmes that will include injury prevention, and will meet with groups of players this week to get them started. Meanwhile, selector Tony Kelly has been trawling through every team that has represented Waterford since 2009 to ensure no player slips through the cracks with regard to coming under consideration.

It is expected the county board will complete the management team with one or two local selectors by the end of the week.