'A breath of fresh air' - Jamie Barron hails Davy Fitz impact

Jamie Barron has credited Waterford manager Davy Fitzgerald with changing how he thinks about the game of hurling.

The three-time All-Star described Fitzgerald as a "breath of fresh air" as they seek to implement his new methods in time for their Munster Championship opener against Limerick on Sunday.

"It is different," said Barron when asked to compare the changes to previous regimes. "It's a lot of talk and it’s a lot of assessing, a lot of analysis. Stuff that we mightn’t have been too used to in the past with different managements.

"There’s a lot to take in but we’re doing a good job on it so far and hopefully we can implement the information we’ve been given and carry it out in championship.

"He shows us lots of new methods of approaching different scenarios. It’s all stuff, when you see it, you think to yourself, 'Jeaney, how didn’t we think of that before?’

"It’s a new way for us and we’ll see how it goes and we’ll see what benefits we do get out of his style of thinking."

As for Davy the man-manager, Barron rates Fitzgerald’s strong player focus as his key attribute.

"It's been a breath of fresh air. He's great to work with," said the Fourmilewater flyer.

"He's very understanding. He's totally for the players. He looks out for us. He makes sure that we're enjoying training as well as putting in all the hard work.

"He brings a lot of educational stuff to us, loads of learning. It's just for us players now to be able to take on board all the information he's giving us and try to implement it out on the field of play. That's what we're trying to work on now for the last four or five weeks."

Barron arrived on the senior scene two years after Fitzgerald's 2008-11 tenure as Waterford manager. Pauric Mahony’s retirement earlier