Mags D'Arcy is confident the Wexford hurlers have learned the “bitter” lessons of last summer and can go up a level in this year’s Championship.
D’Arcy, who is working in a coaching capacity with the panel under Davy Fitzgerald, believes the time is right for the Model County to put everything together in Leinster and beyond.
Wexford emerged from the provincial round-robin last year but ran out of steam on the way, losing their last two games against Galway and Kilkenny before going out tamely in the All-Ireland quarter-finals to Clare.
“Yeah, there’s definitely another gear we can go to,” said D’Arcy. “The boys know that themselves.
“We’re in year three now, the whole team, management and players, we’re all one family but we’re all bitterly disappointed with how the Championship ended last year.
“That kind of gives us the hunger now to push on and get to that stage but we know we can do better as well.”
She describes Wexford’s task in this year’s Leinster Hurling Championship as akin to negotiating a “minefield” – starting with Dublin on May 19 – but it will be helped by the return to fitness of Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Liam Og McGovern and James Breen in time for that fixture.
Ex-Wexford camogie star Mags D'Arcy blazing a trail - but wants to be the norm
Wexford, in fact, are the only county to have two away fixtures first off.
“Home or away, that doesn’t matter,” said D’Arcy, who initially came on board in a goalkeeper coaching role early last year.
“And the opposition is the opposition, a field is a field, but it is nice to have the break of one week with two games either side, we didn’t have that last year.
“Dublin, they’re a massive team, they’re well conditioned and then it’s a trip up to Galway to play a side that came within one point of winning an All-Ireland last year.
“They’re going to be a massive two weeks, then we have a week off. Then it’s into two games with Carlow followed by Kilkenny.
“Carlow are on an upward trend, to have achieved what they’ve achieved has been massive. They’re there on their own merits.”
But she added: “Look, since Davy took over, the guys have beaten every top team that there is in the country, in the League or Championship.
“They know they’re well capable of pushing things on on any given day but for us it’s just about getting consistency of performance.
“If we can get that, then these guys are well capable of winning whatever honours they want to. But we must take each game at a time.”
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