GALWAY HURLING MANAGER Micheal Donoghue is turning to youth in a bid to end the county’s All-Ireland famine with five long-serving players not included in a 40-man squad for winter training.
Former captains David Collins, Fergal Moore and Andy Smith, along with other experienced performers such as Cyril Donnellan and Iarla Tannian, have not been included in the squad which has commenced conditioning training.
Iarla Tannian
Fergal Moore
David Collins
Andy Smith
Cyril Donnellan
Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO" title="">
Source: James Crombie/INPHO" title="">
Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO" title="">
Source: Cathal Noonan/INPHO" title="">
Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO" title="">Players have been told that it is an open-ended squad and that changes could be made before the national league begins.
Donoghue, who was only appointed a few days before Christmas last year, is heading into his first full winter of preparation and has assembled a training squad with a strong leaning towards youth.
Promising underage players such as Sean Loftus, Sean McInerney, Thomas Monaghan, Dan Nevin, Kevin McHugo, Gavin Lally and Michael Conneely are among the newcomers drafted in.
And with a host of others such as Matthew Keating, Shane Moloney, Padraig Brehony, Kevin Hussey and Eanna Burke expected to step up having had some exposure to this level, team manager Donoghue and his selectors will have a new-look Galway side heading into the 2017 campaign.
The departure of the five experienced players — Moore, Collins and Tannian are former All-Stars — will bring an era to an end in Galway.
The five were a senior part of the squad which staged a successful heave against manager Anthony Cunningham last year, shortly after they were defeated by Kilkenny in an All-Ireland final replay.
The new Galway squad will be put through their paces by Polish native Lukasz Kirszenstein who has joined the Tribesmen from All-Ireland champions Tipperary.
Galway, relegated last season, will open their NHL Division 1B campaign away to Offaly on February 12.
Galway will meet Dublin in the quarter-finals of the Leinster SHC next summer as they bid to end their All-Ireland famine which stretches back to 1988.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
Good piece and great to see him doing so well, Munster are certainly in the upper tier of teams in Europe and a real handful at home but the crunch needed against the power teams in a semi or final they are a bit away. This new setup will take time and will have its down days but with the right acquisitions and leadership they could be there in a couple of years.
@mrbryanrussell: What Munster have been missing from the past 8 years is what it is needed to win a Champions cup/ Heinekin Cup – a world class 7 and world class 10. Unfortunately Munster have have just a series of bad luck in this department – constant injuries to TOD, Bleyendaal and now Cloete and Carbery have knocked their season and when you’re relying on 2nd and 3rd choice players in these positions it is highly unlikely you will make it all the way to the final in May.
There’s always a reaction when Munster don’t do well, especially from certain quarters within and outside rugby who like to twist the knife when they get the opportunity.
However Munster are still not far off making a breakthrough but there are a few things needed for that to happen in my opinion.
The new coaching staff and shift in playing style needs to bed in.
We desperately need some players of the right quality to come through the academy. When I say “the right quality” I don’t mean simply international quality but players made out of the same stuff as Clohessy, Galway, Foley, Quinlan, Stringer, ROG etc.
Players who are 100% Munster and would see pulling on the red jersey (of Munster!!) as the greatest honour imaginable.
It might be a big ask now that we’re so removed from the amateur era but a couple of players like that would be gold dust.
We need to shift away from the notion that the HC is the only thing that matters. Too many times in recent years we’ve shot ourselves in the foot by putting ourselves in a poor position in the Pro14 by going after a European Cup we were never likely to win.
Build towards making ourselves as good as anyone in the league, win it and evolve from there.
We need to ensure that any players that are brought in from outside, either IQ or not, are of the required quality and willing to give 100% to Munster.
And probably above all else we need a bit of luck, especially with injuries.