Galway could enjoy a peaceful trip to the sunny south-east on Saturday – or they could come home with a sunburnt face and sand in their shoe. It all depends which Wexford turns up on the day.
Wexford turned victory into a frustrating draw in their opening fixture against Dublin when they conceded two late goals at Wexford Park.
They then travelled up to Belfast to take on Antrim where, having led for most of the game, they somehow came home empty-handed as the Saffrons scored a famous victory at Corrigan Park.
"Antrim wanted to win that match more than Wexford," McGrath said. "I played against Wexford multiple times in championship. I asked Richie Hogan his opinion. They're playing them year-in, year-out, obviously there’s a fierce rivalry between Wexford and Kilkenny.
"He made a good point to me, he said: 'There’s two Wexfords. There’s the Wexford that will go out and beat Kilkenny in Nowlan Park - where nobody beats them - and then there’s the Wexford that loses to Antrim above in Corrigan Park’.
"Everybody feels Wexford should be winning that game by seven, eight, nine points plus. But there's no in-between Wexford. There’s two gears, 'that one’ or ‘that one’.
"So the one they have to bring out this week, obviously, is the one where they’re going and turning over the likes of Kilkenny in Nowlan Park.
"If they bring what they brought to Corrigan Park, they’re going to get absolutely annihilated. It was interesting to get Richie’s take on it, having played them all the time. They would either hammer Wexford or Wexford would beat them but there’d never be like three or four points in it."
The free-scoring Lee Chin was a man on a mission at Corrigan Park, in unstoppable form as a selection of Antrim defenders tried their hand at curtailing the Faythe Harriers man’s influence. The latest Chin masterclass wouldn’t be enough, however, as the home side struck late to seal the win.
"There’s an over-reliance on Lee Chin there. He might have 50-60% of their championship scores got," McGrath insisted.
"He was unmarkable above in Corrigan Park, I think he finished with [2-11]. The rest of them are going to have to stand up, no more so than Dublin with Donal Burke.
"There can’t be this reliance on Lee Chin. A top-class player, in serious form but if it’s just down to him against Galway, there’s only going to be one result.
"Whatever Wexford comes for the match, that’s going to dictate what happens, because it could be a hammering for Wexford."
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