Offaly have regained the services of Brian Whelahan ahead of their Leinster hurling semi-final on Sunday week. Although he was poised to retire this time last month, manager John McIntyre had left the door open for any change of heart. Whelahan has taken that opportunity and attended the Offaly training session in Tullamore last night.
His return is a timely boost ahead of the daunting clash against Kilkenny in Croke Park, and yet McIntyre was keen to keep things in perspective. He confirmed Whelahan had agreed to rejoin the panel, but that no one should be expecting too much of him at this stage of his career, and just 10 days before a match against Kilkenny.
Whelahan had indicated he was still motivated to get himself in championship shape by making a greater effort with his club Birr over the past number of weeks. Although he turns 34 next August, Whelahan is still more than a year younger than DJ Carey, who continues to illustrate the potential for longevity with his form for Kilkenny.
It was no secret McIntyre was keen to have him back and despite his 15-year career with Offaly, Whelahan always appeared hesitant of walking away without giving it one more shot. It's also highly possible his decision to return was influenced by the injury sustained by fellow defender Niall Claffey, who broke his index finger while playing for Birr against Drumcullen earlier this month.
The new Christy Ring Cup for second-tier hurling counties has been shaken just days before the opening round of matches with the news Westmeath have lost the services of manager Tom Ryan because of repeatedly poor attendance at training sessions. Ryan walked away from the position last November for similar reasons, but agreed to return following renewed vows of commitment from players.
Last Thursday Ryan again found himself in the position of having too few players to work with. He informed the county board over the weekend of his decision to quit. The Christy Ring Cup begins this weekend, with Westmeath due to play Roscommon on Saturday week.
Westmeath still intend to participate in the competition, but according to Ryan, the former Limerick hurling manager, the attitude towards hurling in the county was disappointing and shocking. Last Thursday evening, Ryan received more text messages from players claiming they couldn't make the training than those who actually showed up.
"I'm very upset about it," said Ryan, "and shocked as I am disappointed. I knew it was a challenge coming to Westmeath, but I saw it as a sort of crusade, that I might be able to lift another team from the shadows. But hurling is in a very bad situation in a lot of counties, and I think all this proves that. And it's not like Westmeath has no hurling tradition.
"It wasn't like we were setting too high a standard. But I was prepared to put the work in, lots of work, and maybe change the culture a little bit. But I just couldn't take it anymore. I was aware of all the politics that were going on between clubs and things like that, but I was determined it wouldn't get to me . . . I couldn't put up with this charade any longer. The bottom line is you can't go to war without soldiers."
Ryan's disgust was made worse by the fact he'd attended numerous hurling matches in Westmeath over the past few months, intent on trawling the county for talent.
"Last Tuesday night only 15 showed up at Cusack Park. We couldn't operate with numbers like that. We were in Plunkett Park on Thursday and 12 showed up, and that was just it for me. And I'm talking about key players missing, from key clubs. It wasn't even a case of scraping the barrel. We'd gone beyond that."
Kilkenny, the reigning All-Ireland under-21 hurling champions, swept to a 3-22 to 0-12 victory over Carlow at Dr Cullen Park last evening.
