Inside Track with John McIntyre

AT the start of the inter-county hurling season, few would have predicted that Henry Shefflin would be gone as Galway team manager by early July or that the Tribesmen would end up without a single nomination for the 2024 All-Stars.

It has echoes of what happened just three years previously. Again, Galway failed to pick up a nomination for the All-Stars while Shane O’Neill stepped down as team manager after a difficult, Covid restricted campaign in 2021.

In that year’s Leinster semi-final, Galway would fall to a disappointing four-point defeat to Dublin before falling a scarcely believable 1-25 to 0-12 in arrears by the 54th minute of their All-Ireland quarter-final against 14-man Waterford in Thurles.

Sure, Galway launched a final quarter revival which saw them close the gap to 1-30 to 3-20 by the finish, but Waterford were on their last legs as the late first half dismissal of defender Conor Gleeson finally began to take its toll.

For all the hype about Galway hurling, there have been few days to celebrate since the 2018 championship campaign. They have been beaten by Dublin in three key matches in the interim; haven’t added to their haul of three Leinster title; and are without an All-Star nomination for the second time in four years.

These are sobering statistics and give some indication of the challenge facing returning manager Micheál Donoghue, who will surely prioritise the fast tracking of new talent in 2025 given the age profile of the outgoing squad, with the best years of a fair cohort of that group behind them.

At least, the Galway footballers will have a strong representation at the All-Stars banquet after a positive season which only ran aground in the biggest match of all. Though the mental scars of that disappointing defeat to Armagh will take time to heal and Padraic Joyce has since lost coach Cian O’Neill, the Tribesmen are back as a big power in the game and will surely be All-Ireland contenders again in 2025.

With eight All-Star nominations, Paul Conroy and John Maher shortlisted for the Footballer of the Year, and Johnny McGrath a contender for the Young Player accolade, Galway probably don’t need to do much tweaking of the personnel for next year. In contrast, Donoghue must carry out a root and branch review of his squad.

The new Galway management will obviously be keeping a close eye on this weekend’s senior hurling quarter-finals which have produced some attractive pairings, not least a repeat of last year’s county final between All-Ireland champions St Thomas’ and Turloughmore.

Pictured: Craughwell’s Ger O’Halloran getting the better of St Thomas’ Cathal Burke during Saturday’s preliminary senior hurling quarter-final at Kenny Park. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.