It has been 29 years since Wexford were dancing at the crossroads but are their hurlers standing at another one now?
The post-season retirements of three of the Leinster-winning side of 2019 - Diarmuid O'Keeffe, Matthew O'Hanlon and Liam Óg McGovern - and continued absence of players like Paudie and Oisín Foley has left manager Keith Rossiter with a rebuilding job, that has been exacerbated by an injury crisis.
Key men like Conor McDonald (hamstring) and full-back Liam Ryan (unspecified surgery) are expected to miss the majority of the league.
Cathal Dunbar is back in the starting line-up to face Kilkenny today and Damien Reck is on the bench after a hamstring injury but Jack O'Connor (also hamstring) is left out after playing the second half of the defeat to Tipperary as only seven of the XV beaten by Clare in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final start.
The return of talismanic forward Lee Chin from his travels has come too late to play any part this weekend but his experience will be badly needed for the rest of a campaign that is already shaping up to be a fight for survival.
Speaking before Christmas, but anticipating the retirement of the aforementioned trio and more, 1996 All-Ireland winner Tom Dempsey said: "They will be a huge loss when they're gone and very hard to replace. Lee Chin is probably one of the top three Wexford hurlers I've seen in my lifetime.
"With Wexford, we always seem to pull ourselves out of the quagmire and come up with a few results when it matters. But I am a little bit worried about how we'll cope over the next few years when these lads start to retire.
"We have some very good young fellas and while we're not winning national titles we are competing well at U20 and minor and we'll have a good minor team next year.
"How we develop these younger players in the next few years is going to be very important."
Dempsey also suggested that Wexford should try to improve the standard of club hurling to broaden the talent pool.
Oulart-The Balagh are the only team from the county to win (2016) or even reach the Leinster club final since Rathnure in 1998.
"I can't put my finger on what's wrong with Wexford hurling, but I do think we're not putting enough emphasis on the need for very strong club hurling to make a strong county team," he said.
"We're very focused on development squads and bringing young lads through when I think we need to look a bit more at seasoned club hurlers and try to bring our club championship to a better level, because it's not at the level we would like to see it."
Four-time camogie All-Star and All-Ireland winner Ursula Jacob feels the younger members of Rossiter's panel will come good but suggests that they need time and experience beside them to get there.
"Any team will struggle when you lose guys like Matthew O'Hanlon, Dee O'Keeffe, Liam Óg McGovern," she told the RTÉ GAA podcast. "They were three massive leaders for Wexford over the last 10 years.
"It was nearly like you’re trying to encourage the younger guys that are coming in to become the leaders and maybe it’s a little bit premature with some of them. They haven’t got a huge amount of experience so it’s great to see the likes of Lee back in contention.
"But we’re still without Liam Ryan, Conor McDonald, the Reck brothers [Damien and Shane], Kevin Foley. These are all guys that start and Wexford is a county that can’t do without five or six of their starting team.
"It’s cut-throat in Division 1 with two teams going down and already Wexford are on the back foot."
Wexford have had excellent results in recent times against Kilkenny but could really do with another one today to give themselves a fighting chance of staying up.
"The last few years especially, there has really only been a puck of a ball between Kilkenny and Wexford," Jacob pointed out.
"Even the league game last year was a draw in Nowlan Park and was a ferocious battle. I expect a huge crowd in Wexford.
"Obviously, it's more of a must-win game for Wexford to get the confidence back, and two points on the board. After losing in the opening two rounds, there is that bit more pressure on them now.
"They have had a combination of injuries, retirements, guys missing. Lee Chin is back in the country and training, that’s a huge boost. Rory O’Connor will be free to play after suspension and a few other guys are coming back.
"But it’s going to be a huge test for Wexford. First of all, I think they’ll be focused on getting a good performance in and then hopefully a positive result as well."
Watch Wexford v Kilkenny in the Allianz Hurling League on Saturday from 5pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 and watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
