Wexford joint captain Matthew O’Hanlon has begged boss Davy Fitzgerald to stay on and insisted they’re ‘willing to do whatever it takes to get our man back’.
O’Hanlon was part of a delegation of Model players that drove to Fitzgerald’s Sixemilebridge home after the 2018 Championship and implored him to stay.
Fitzgerald later admitted the show of emotion
convinced him to overlook ‘something else that was in the pipeline’ and commit to Wexford for a third season.
It paid off because he guided Wexford to a breakthrough Leinster title success before coming up short of eventual All-Ireland winners Tipperary in the semi-finals.
O’Hanlon said: “The bond that we have with him is something special. We’re really hoping that he sticks with us because I think he’s the man to bring us to the next level. That’s all I can say at the moment, I don’t know any more.
“But Davy has to weigh it up. The commute from Clare to Wexford isn’t easy and he would have spoken about it before.
"I was part of that group last year that went down, it’s one of those roads that happens to avoid any main motorway.
"But as I said, we’re hopeful, we really want him back and I think he knows that. All of the players, other backroom staff and the county board are firmly behind him.
"So the door is open to come back and we’re really hoping that he does.”
Asked if he and his Wexford colleagues would be prepared to drive down to Sixmilebridge again, O’Hanlon nodded enthusiastically.
He said: “Oh yeah, completely. We’re willing to do whatever it takes to get our man back. Look, he knows how highly we regard him and how much we respect him and how we support him.”
Wexford were five points up against 14-man Tipp at one stage in the second-half of their semi-final.
O’Hanlon said: “It’s obviously going to be fuel to the fire for us to come back. It’ll be used in our training and motivation for next season.
“The big thing is that it gives us the belief that we’re able to compete at this level. It’s the first time for our group to get to the last four.”
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