The 25-year was one of the players who drove to Clare in the wake of their All-Ireland quarter-final exit to persuade Fitzgerald that his work in the southeast wasn’t yet done and that he should commit to a third term in charge.

Fitzgerald has subsequently spoken about how much the gesture has meant to him, and Chin believes the manager and squad still make for a good fit despite an ultimately disappointing summer.

“Of course we knew he had done two years and, in some ways, we expected that maybe there’d be a question about whether he’d come back in the third. We did think like that back at home (in Wexford) and there were other things we knew might be on Davy’s mind.

“Would he like a break from the GAA? Or there could be have been other offers on the table. We were aware things like that could be going on.”

“So we wanted to do our bit to make sure we didn’t cut any corners and to let him know we needed him.”

Wexford have ticked a number of boxes under the former Clare and Waterford boss. Promotion to Division 1A was secured at the first time of asking and they retained that status this year. Defeating Kilkenny and making a Leinster decider in 2017 were two other significant achievements.

But the momentum generated in that first season – and through the Allianz League campaign this year – began to ebb towards the end of the Leinster round-robin campaign with defeats to Galway and Kilkenny. Clare eventually ended their input in the last eight.

“It is hard,” said Chin of their exit.

“You can see it all going in the right direction and all of a sudden it crumbles right in front of you.

“You start questioning, ‘are we ever going to get over the line? Are we ever going to find that consistency in our game?’

“This year we gave up a lead against Kilkenny at the end and we had a last dash at Clare in the quarter-final but didn’t quite seal the deal.

“You can look back at the year and see that stuff and say, ‘look, its positive that we were in most of those games but it doesn’t mean anything anymore unless there is silverware coming your way and you are seeing substantial progress. So, yeah, it was quite tough to take.”

It was probably no coincidence that Chin’s form dipped, too.

The Faythe Harriers man was superb in 2017 but admits that a few below-par performances towards the end of the league and championship campaigns dented his confidence and he isn’t the type to wear such disappointments lightly.

“The bridge I have to cross is to try and not let things affect me as much,” he explained.

“I can be very hard on myself that way. So if I can get a grip of that I’ll hopefully get back on the horse.”

He’s already shown signs of rejuvenation since returning to action with the club and, with Harriers now finished with their hurling and club commitments, he has the Fenway Hurling Classic in Boston and a trip to Thailand and Australia to occupy his thoughts as the year comes to a close.

Wexford will be making the trip to the States without Páraic Fanning who has taken over as manager in his native Waterford after two seasons spent assisting Fitzgerald in Wexford. Chin believes the Déise have landed on their feet with the new man.

“I never doubted that he had that ability. He was fantastic with us for the two years he was with us. We enjoyed every minute of his time. He was great for Wexford and we learned a lot from him. I didn’t expect the move this year. But I have a lot of respect for Páraic and I wish him well in his new role and I think he’s going to do a fantastic job with them.”