DAVY FITZGERALD has urged Waterford fans to play their part in ensuring that home advantage counts against Cork on Sunday.
The Rebels could be set to benefit from the bulk of the support at Walsh Park after Waterford GAA secretary Pat Flynn revealed that ‘the take-up has not been great’ for tickets in the host county.
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Waterford go into their Munster SHC opener following a disappointing National League campaign that saw Fitzgerald’s injury-hit side fail to secure a place in the restructured top tier for next season.
The Déise boss, who is set to have Tadhg de Búrca available for the first time in a year, said: “The home crowd is massive.
“Are we disappointed that we’re not winning games? Yes. But we’ve been missing lads and we have some lads back.
“The games we lost, we could quite easily have won, so we’re not 100 miles off it.
“I totally understand the frustration but we need the support.
“Let us be judged on the Munster Championship and see how we go.”
Waterford will also face Tipperary at home on May 4, before their quest to qualify from the provincial round-robin for the first time takes in Clare and Limerick.
Fitzgerald added: “I think if we get a win or two at all, you’ll see a change. But we have to work hard and do our best.
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“All we can do is encourage them to come out and be with us.”
After starting the Division 1A campaign with a win over Offaly, Waterford went on to lose to Clare, Cork, Wexford and Kilkenny.
While insisting that he can ‘only laugh’ at talk of disharmony in the camp, Fitzgerald said: “The first three games of the league, we were missing nine so-called starters that will be there or thereabouts.
“The last game or so, we started to get them back but they weren’t match fit.
“We haven’t been far away and we’ve blooded over 30 players in the league. I’m happy with it.
“Can I stop the rumours? No, I can’t. You know what? Let them off.
“If we win on April 21 or May 4, do you think those rumours will count for much?
“That’s the way I look at it. If we lose, they’ll nail me no matter what the story is.
“I don’t mind. I can’t do anything about it.”
Now in the second season of his second spell as Waterford gaffer, Fitzgerald and his panel ramped up their preparations with a recent training camp in Portugal.
He said: “At the end of the Championship, we’ll have a talk about how good or how bad it was and I don’t have a problem with that.
“Things in management are never straightforward.
“You have to be willing to adapt, you have to be willing to learn and you have to be willing to change — the same as players do.
“We have to be that way. If things aren’t working one way, we have to try another way.
“We have to find a way to get through it. Once you’re together in that, you’ve a chance of doing it.
“Would it be a fair achievement to get out of Munster and to be competing? I’ll answer that question for you after.”
