The blockbuster sequel of the summer was confirmed last night: Déise Davy 2 - The Comeback.Fitzgerald had great success in his first spell with Waterford, leading them to to the All-Ireland final in 2008, just three months into his inter-county management career.The players had won three provincial titles under Justin McCarthy, but after a Munster quarter-final defeat to Clare that June, a talented but ageing side had lost faith in the Cork man's ability to bring them to the big show.Fitzgerald did just that, but they came up against a Kilkenny side on their way to four in a row in that final and at the penultimate stage in 2009 and 2011.
Waterford did regain the Munster crown in 2010 but were then knocked out by a Tipp side that had by then supplanted them as the Cats' main challengers.So, Davy is back on the Waterford sideline.
He has won an All-Ireland title with his native Clare and led Wexford to a first Leinster in 15 years since. But will this return be more of a Godfather Part 2 triumph or a Speed movie without Keanu Reeves?Here are how some of his fellow managers got on in their second screenings with the same county.The GoodLiam Sheedy led Tipp to their first Liam MacCarthy in nine years and denied Kilkenny what would have been the first senior men's five-in-a-row in either code in 2010.The Portroe man surprisingly stepped down after that but returned in 2019 and immediately led the Premier men back to the top of the hill, again beating Kilkenny in the decider.Sheedy called time on his second reign after back-to-back All-Ireland quarter-final defeats in 2020 and 2021.The surrender of a 10-point half-time lead against Limerick in the 2021 Munster decider stung, but even so it remains the only time the champions