New Waterford football boss Ephie Fitzgerald wants to see fire and brimstone from his players every time they take the field, starting with Sunday’s Division 4 opener against Tipperary in Dungarvan. No more Mr Nice guys.
“It’s a question of getting the guys fitter, stronger and mentally stronger. And more competitive. Waterford people generally are very nice people. We want to try and get more spite into them for want of a better word. That manic will to win that all top teams have. That’s a work in progress.”
The Déise exited the championship meekly last summer with an 18-point defeat to Limerick. “I want us to be competitive in every game. I don’t ever want to see Waterford getting beaten by 16 or 17 points in any game. Sometimes you can’t control that but I want us to be competitive. I’m generally just focussing on getting performances. Every time we go on the field that their passion and commitment will reflect what I believe a team should be. And that they feel worthy and that they feel they belong. If you’re losing games endlessly over a number of years, it becomes embedded in your brain in lots of ways. ‘Jaysus, we’ll never beat them.’ I’m trying to engender that belief more than anything else. From what I’ve seen in training, the lads are like sponges, they’re really taking on board everything we’re trying to achieve.”
Fitzgerald approached around 50 players over the winter to join the panel. “Lots of guys want to play football but take the Under 20s as an example this year. There’s three or four very good footballers but they want to give the Under 20 hurling a good shot so they’re committed to that. The pool of players is small enough but all in all, once I got guys to commit, they’ve been a pleasure to work with, an absolute joy. At any level, it has to be very professional and the lads have to see that if they’re going to buy into something that’s going to take up an awful lot of their time. It is a minimum of five days, six days a week that they’re getting the best of attention, the best of care and the best of facilities.”
Former Mayo ladies football manager Peter Leahy and ex Cork ladies coach Conor Quinlan are part of his backroom team along with Michael O’Sullivan (physio) and Noelle Quann (doctor). “I’m trying to make it as professional as I can for them. This is only the tip of the iceberg. It’s a good base but it’s just a start for us.”
Hear more from Ephie Fitzgerald on Friday's Lár Na Páirce show from 6.10.
