As Davy Fitzgerald was driven into the Wild Geese GAA grounds in Oldtown the drizzle began to clear. The Clare hurling manager was very early. His first words of wisdom ‘In Clare we train at 7pm but the boys would be there at 615, any lad that arrives in at 645 is late, start as you mean to go! ‘. He was here at the invitation of the John Murray RTE radio 1 show, who have picked the Wild Geese junior hurling team as their ‘underdogs’ to follow this year. Fitzgerald is small in stature but has enormous presence in the GAA world, he walked onto the pitch, called in the Wild Geese hurlers and instructed them on what they where going to be doing with him that evening.
After a eight minute warm up. He directed them through some brief but very intensive drills. He encouraged them every step of the way, throwing out little nuggets of information during the session. Afterwards he addressed them for twenty five minutes, in an open and light hearted manner. He complimented them on their achievements to date, advised them to keep the bite between their teeth, as they come to the end of their season. He promised to stay in touch.
At the end, when asked ‘will Clare win the all Ireland this year’ , he shrugged his shoulders and with a twinkle in his eye, gave an honest wink.
