Local knowledge key to Wexford resurgence, says Cushe 

Cushe’s statement is as much to do with new personnel as it is the points shared with Clare, Kilkenny, and Offaly.

The early season absence of the injured Conor McDonald, Diarmuid O’Keeffe, Connal Flood, Matthew O’Hanlon, Liam Óg McGovern, and Conor Devitt forced the hand of new manager Keith Rossiter. Experimentation was less a liberty and more a necessity.

Rossiter did two seasons as Wexford U20 boss before rising to the main office. He knows the underage scene and its main actors. He knows who to experiment with and where to experiment with them.

Conor Foley, Corey Byrne Dunbar, and Cian Byrne were all part of his U20 team that fell to Offaly in last season’s Leinster final. He's since offered graduation caps to all three.

Foley has competently minded the full-back station in each of their three outings. Indeed, he was among their outstanding performers on the opening weekend against Kilkenny. His two points belied the No.3 shirt on his back.

Moving up to midfield, Corey Byrne Dunbar is widely held as the most promising talent of their emerging crew. Cian Byrne, meanwhile, contributed 1-1 against Kilkenny. His green flag was the levelling score at UPMC Nowlan Park.

There are others Rossiter plucked who responded to the call with performances and prosper.

Full league debuts have been given out to Eoin Ryan, Cian Molloy, James Byrne, Tomás Kinsella, and Richie Lawlor. Prior to their league opener, Niall Murphy had only one spring start to his name. The corner-back hasn’t been left out of the starting team in 2024.

Séamus Casey’s lining out at corner-forward against Kilkenny was his first outfield start for the Model County in five years. He’s notched 2-8 since Rossiter handed him a second chance.

Cushe doesn’t view the performances of the newcomers or the points accumulated as attributable to any new-manager bounce. He instead credits the new manager with identifying the emerging players most capable of bringing a bounce to Wexford performances.

Local knowledge, as opposed to fellas playing for the local lad.

“When you have a lad from within the county over the team, and I've always been an advocate of that anyway, he tends to have his finger on the pulse of a lot of the young lads that are playing in the county,” Cushe begins.

“With Darragh (Egan) last year, I know he had lads working with him from the county, but Keith himself would have known a lot of these young lads growing up and how good they are, probably more so than anyone in the county. To me, that is the main thing.

“The fact that he is from the county has helped him an awful lot, whereas Darragh, probably, that was a negative for him.

“At U20, Keith put a lot of them through his hands. He knows exactly what he is dealing with. He wouldn't expose a player to the wrong position, which can set a young lad back, because he'd know what he'd be capable of. That was a big asset to him.” 

The Oulart-The-Ballagh clubman is the county’s first homegrown manager since Liam Dunne finished up in 2016. Cushe was delighted that the selection committee didn’t go outside Model borders for a third manager in succession.

“Keith is the best we could have got, in my opinion. We don't need to go outside the county. We have proven before with people from within the county that we achieve as much as when we go outside the county.” 

Tomorrow afternoon, Rossiter and Wexford will make the relatively short spin to Walsh Park. There they will endeavour to remain in the mix for a top-three spot to be part of next year’s seven-team elite and a top-two spot to be part of the League semi-finals later this month.

“The two teams they have left to play, Cork and Waterford, are struggling for results at the moment. This weekend will be a massive test for our lads because Waterford will not want to be in a position where they could be relegated down to the new second tier.

“This weekend will tell us a lot about our lads because they are under a little bit more pressure and obviously being away from home it'll be a big test for them down there just to see how they are progressing.

“With so many of our top names out, they had to find players. I would have been a little bit worried with so many inexperienced players stepping up to the senior ranks. But they have really stood up to what has been thrown at them thus far.

“Everyone's a little bit surprised with how well they are doing, but everyone is also delighted with how they are doing.”