Wexford's horror show against Clare showed that they don't have the depth of their hurling rivals, believes Shane McGrath.
Missing eight of the XV that started last year's All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to the Banner, Darragh Egan's side were ripped apart, 6-25 to 1-18, at Wexford Park on Sunday.
"I really did feel for him yesterday," said McGrath of his former Tipperary team-mate on the RTÉ GAA podcast.
"The crowd were so disappointed with the team. Some people will blame management, some people will blame players.
"There was zero effort. Regardless of who you have or who you don’t have, if you don’t try what hope have you? I just felt that there was no effort from a lot of the Wexford guys.
"Darragh was very honest in his interview after the game, he said that for some of these newer guys that came in, yesterday was their chance and that might be their chance gone. That’s the way it is at the top level, if you’re a newer fish and you want to stake a claim.
"I think they learned yesterday that they just don’t have that depth in their panel that the top teams have. They can’t afford to be missing seven or eight guys. That was very evident.
"The Wexford half-back line scored three points from play, the forwards, as a whole unit, scored four.
"They have a lot of soul-searching to do. Their next game is Cork, in Limerick, they’ll play Galway in Salthill before their next home game against Antrim in April. It’s a tricky few games coming up for them."
On RTÉ2's Allianz League Sunday, Kilkenny great Jackie Tyrrell was equally scathing of the 22-point reversal, calling it "without doubt, their worst performance under Darragh Egan".
"It was probably shambolic at times, particularly at the back. [There were] four different incidents I saw where Wexford had the ball in their hands coming out of defence and coughed it up.
"You could say that, fair enough, Matthew O'Hanlon isn't there, Liam Ryan, Mark Fanning, Lee Chin, Rory O'Connor - which is the spine of their team - but you can't stand over not making an effort, lack of intensity, no aggression in the tackle, passive, going through the motions. Darragh Egan will be seething over this performance.
"It is an attitude thing. Their distribution was disjointed. Clare were at their ease, able to work the ball out with no real pressure, no physicality. Clare got six goals, it could have been seven or eight. It was really that bad."
.@MrJackieTee wasn't holding back in his criticism of Wexford after their heavy loss to Clare #rtegaa #allianzleagues #allianzleaguesunday pic.twitter.com/zH6LSU2GtR
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) February 26, 2023
Brian Lohan gave All-Stars John Conlon and Tony Kelly their first run out this season but McGrath was particularly impressed with Aidan McCarthy, who scored 1-04 from play and six frees after missing the 2022 inter-county campaign with a broken leg.
"They were a wounded animal coming down after what happened against Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds," said McGrath.
"They had a much stronger team on paper, only down four from their strongest performance of last year, the Munster final.
"The massive thing for them this year is that Aidan McCarthy is back. He scored 1-10 yesterday and he is in serious form.
"They have a bit of depth in their panel now and they’re a much stronger unit than last year.
"Clare's first 15 shots were 15 scores, 3-12. Regardless of who you’re playing, that’s some efficiency."
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