LEE CHIN has gone from being a secret admirer of Davy Fitzgerald to mixing business and pleasure with the Wexford boss.
The county’s joint captain only ever saw the ‘hothead’ side of his manager before the Banner native took the Model reins in October 2016.
But in the last three years, Chin has realised there is so much more to the man who makes the six-hour round trip from Sixmilebridge to Ferns for every training session.
Fitzgerald’s bond with the group is nigh-on unbreakable and progress has rocketed under the ex-Clare chief.
Chin, who shared the captaincy with Matthew O’Hanlon this year, admits he would not have seen it coming a few years ago.
He told SunSport: “Look, as a player, I suppose it’s probably easy for us to identify where we had our opinions or thoughts on Davy compared to now.
LOVE HIS PASSION
“He was over Clare when I started hurling for Wexford and you have your thoughts and perceptions of Davy, probably like a lot of other people.
“Thinking of him on the sideline, ‘Bit of a hothead’, you think that kind of thing of him.
“But once you get to know him and get inside the circles of his art, he doesn’t come across that way anymore.
“And I would have always been a fan of him, I loved his passion and the way he was in everything he did.”
Fitzgerald was devastated in July when, after ending the county’s 15-year wait for a Leinster Championship, his Wexford players lost out in their All- Ireland semi-final to Tipperary.
But when it looked like those ties he had established with the Slaneysiders would be cut, the former Clare goalkeeper just could not leave and committed for another year last month. And the manager and Chin have grown so close that they are even going into business together — though the player cannot reveal anything about that venture just yet.
Fitzgerald splits opinion across the country, but there is only one perception in Wexford.
SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
He has brought this group from staring a long way up to the top table to sitting pretty at it — and they could well be in the All-Ireland conversation at the business end of 2020.
Fitzgerald is not just Chin’s manager anymore. He is a listener, advisor and companion — and it works both ways.
The Faythe Harriers man, 27, added: “He’s the kind of manager that no matter what is going on in your life or what’s happening, he’s always on the other end of the phone.
“He could contact me sometimes with things that are on his mind, and once you breach that line there’s an automatic relationship formed and that’s something that has happened with me and him over the course of the three years.”
Nothing captured Fitzgerald’s warm side more than when RTE aired ‘When Michael met Davy’ in August.
Michael O’Brien from Killarney, who is visually impaired, was 11 when he went on the Late Late Toy Show a year ago to review braille books for children. And he told the nation Davy Fitz was his hero.
The Wexford boss then appeared from back stage and invited his young fan in to speak to his players.
TELEVISION GOLD
Filmed for an hour of television gold, Michael gave his team-talk before Wexford’s league win over Tipperary on February 17 — and the players hung on his every word.
And Chin says that gesture was nothing out of the ordinary for Fitzgerald, who always likes to keep things in perspective.
He said: “I’ve got to know him, just how good he is with people and individuals and how good he is with people that are not fortunate in life, who might be a bit ill or have some difficulties in life.
“He’s just so good at giving them his time. There’s so many times he has brought certain individuals into our camp and nobody ever knows about it.
“He just puts a smile on their face and that’s all he cares about. That’s just again an example of what he does for people and the likes of Michael.
“We were so delighted to meet him that day and we had no idea he was coming in.
“Davy wanted us to buy into a mindset of, ‘Look where we are as people’. We get a chance to go on to the field and play hurling. Young Michael might not get those opportunities.
“You’ve got to be grateful for what you have. Hurling is just nothing to worry about, ‘There’s no problems here, just go out and enjoy yourself’.
“He’s so good at getting off that atmosphere and for us as people, it was just brilliant to see Michael and share a moment that we’d like to think he’ll remember, because I’ll always remember it.”
Emphasising Wexford’s progress, Diarmuid O’Keeffe and Chin collected All-Stars last weekend and the latter cannot wait for 2020.
He added: “All the people we meet now still congratulate you on your year and their following sentence is that they can’t wait for next year.
“The people in Wexford are just very genuine people and very appreciative of the days out you give them.
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“It’s great to just give people something to look forward to and put a bit of hope and pride back into them and a couple of days out in the summer.
“The people of Wexford had been crying out for it for years and I’m just glad that we’ve given them that and hopefully we can continue to do it.”
lWEXFORD’S Lee Chin, Tipperary’s Barry Heffernan, Kilkenny’s Paul Murphy and Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes were at Dublin Airport this week where Aer Lingus, in partnership with the GAA & GPA, unveiled a one-of-a-kind customised playing kit for the New York Hurling Classic which takes place at Citi Field in New York on November 16. Aer Lingus will once again be the official airline of the event and will be responsible for flying the four teams to New York.