Waterford hurlers warm up for championship with trip to Portugal training camp

The Waterford hurlers have become the latest team to take advantage of a warm weather training camp in advance of the championship.

Davy Fitzgerald’s side will train in Portugal this week as they step up preparations for their provincial opener against Cork at Walsh Park on April 21st.

Waterford had a difficult league campaign during which they picked up just one win in their five Division 1A matches – beating Offaly in their opening fixture before suffering four successive defeats.

It means Waterford will not be playing in the top flight of the newly reformatted league in 2025, but Fitzgerald hopes his side can turn their 2024 season around during the upcoming championship campaign when the squad should be bolstered by the return of several players from injury.

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Henry Shefflin’s Galway hurlers are also to train in Portugal now their league involvement is over, while the Kerry footballers are due to fly out to the Algarve during the Easter period, irrespective of whether they advance to the Division One final or not.

Mickey Harte’s Derry footballers will also train in Portugal early next month and a number of other counties are also planning training camps, including Colm O’Rourke’s Meath.

Jim McGuinness beat the pre-championship rush by taking his Donegal squad to Tenerife in December prior to the season commencing, while Cork’s footballers only returned home from a training camp in Portugal before playing Meath in a pivotal Division Two league game last weekend.

[ Waterford the fall guys as next year’s top division reveals itself ]

The Rebels finished the contest strongly in Navan, scoring the last seven points to beat Meath and secure their status in Division Two for another year.

“We thought it was very useful, actually,” commented John Cleary when asked about the training break.

“We said at the start of the year that if we could get three or four days together and a bit of a block that it would be good for spirit and it would be also good to work on our game plan.

“Look, we’ll see in the future but while we were there, I think the lads really saw the benefit of it, training for three or four days, twice a day, recovery, pool and doing video sessions and a bit on psychology. So yeah, we did find it beneficial.”

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