KEITH ROSSITER MIGHT have thought it would always be like this.
The Oulart-The-Ballagh club man wasn’t long on a Wexford panel before experiencing All-Ireland semi-finals and being part of a Leinster-winning panel.
Yes there had been lows with the highs but by 2004, Rossiter had already featured in two All-Ireland semi-finals. Things were looking up; the future was bright for Wexford and its young star.
But those semi-finals and seasons, as so many have since, ended badly and these days it’s about baby steps back up the stairs.
Both final-four losses to the eventual All-Ireland champions in each year did not signal a falling off the inter-county hurling map for Wexford but there have been few days in the sun since. Perhaps reaching an All-Ireland semi-final in 2007 marks a high point since, but that too ended in a double-digit defeat.
Since Rossiter began to establish himself, it hasn’t quite been how he would have wished. “It hurts,” he says of Wexford no longer being mentioned as Leinster title contenders. “It’s a clear fact. When I started in 2003 it was Wexford or Kilkenny, who is it going to be?
“Now all of a sudden you are fifth or sixth position in Leinster which doesn’t really help and it doesn’t really sit well with us.
“But we are in that position and it’s up to the 30 players and the management to get us out of it. That’s the bottom line.”
Whatever sport and whatever time, a mix of youth an experience has usually enjoyed success. Wexford have seen another large overhaul of their playing resources since Liam Dunne took charge, with the question being whether there are enough old heads to go with the young legs.
“Fifty per cent of our panel now is made up of new guys, so it was only a matter of time before a couple broke in on top of the team,” says Rossiter. “They deserve their chance, they’ve been hurling well in the league and they’ve been hurling well in the couple of practice matches we’ve had. It’s great for them.
“Wexford is changing at the minute, it might take a small bit of time to see what happens, but you may as well let them in now to see what happens and blood them in the championship.”
Dunne was Rossiter’s idol growing up and the All-Ireland winner from 1996 is likely to be given time to mould his side. “It’s going to be a two- or three-year thing. This is the start of it now.
“I suppose over the next two or three years you are going to see a lot more new names and a couple of the older guys fading away into the background. But that’s just the way it is, that’s the way that hurling is.
“That’s a good thing for the team to see these younger guys pushing on and getting places. It’s good to see it. I’d be very happy to see it.
Brian Carroll challenges Keith Rossiter in the 2003
Leinster semi-final. Pic: INPHO/Patrick Bolger
“One of the guys starting (Jack Guiney) is a county minor from last year. He proved his point in the league and he is hurling well at the minute. It is a team in transition and it is going to take a bit of time.”
It may taken patience too because nothing tests that better than losing excellent players to the other code. Wexford take on Longford in the Leinster football championship on Sunday, and will do so with plenty of fine stickmen.
“I suppose there is a few talented hurlers going to be kicking football on Sunday, but I’m sure there is a few talented footballers going to be hurling in Tullamore on Saturday as well that Jason Ryan would like to get his hands on,” says Rossiter.
“Look, that’s the way it is. I honestly believe that the county is not big enough to have two powers in hurling and football. You see the likes of Cork and Dublin that have the population to do that but I don’t think we have.
“All I am worried about is the hurling side, the hurling front. We lost a couple this year to the footballers and we gained a couple as well. We will go with the guys we have, the 30 guys we have who are all willing to put the shoulder to the wheel for Wexford hurling. We are very happy with the panel that we have.”
Satisfied with the panel is one thing, but what would constitute a good year for Wexford?
“Having a good championship and that starts on Saturday,” Rossiter says without hesitation. “We can only take it one game at a time. We are not the Kilkennys or the Tipps of this world but we are trying to get back there, but we are not at the minute and that’s just reality.
“They are trying to get to All-Ireland finals and playing on the first Sunday in September. We’re taking it one game at a time. A good championship is beating Offaly at the weekend and moving up the ladder another little bit to get on to Galway or Westmeath.”
Revenge will be on the cards for the Faithful County at O’Connor Park after a late run turned league defeat into victory for Wexford.
“I suppose some of us could have done time after the Offaly game – we robbed them basically,” the defender jokes.
“Look it was the start of the league and anything can happen in the league. In the championship there is nothing much between ourselves and Offaly, a couple of points here or there.
“I would think and I would presume that it is going to be the same at the weekend. It’s going to be a tough battle up in Tullamore, it’s meant to be a good weekend so the hurling should be good. Hopefully we will come out on top.”
Keith Rossiter was at Croke Park for the launch of the Etihad Skyline.
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