Henry Shefflin is in line to land a job on television as a hurling analyst before the start of the championship. It may mean that he has to be critical of former Kilkenny teammates, but Shefflin knows that comes with the job.
Of course he couldn’t come more qualified – 10 All-Irelands, 11 All Stars, three-time hurler of the year, etc – and Shefflin also believes sitting in with either RTÉ or Sky will help ease the transition into retirement after 16 summers on the field.
He is, in many ways, looking forward to it. “I’m in talks at the minute, just to see what the options are,” Shefflin confirmed. “It’s only happened in the last week or so, because for a few weeks there, after retiring, I was off in my own bubble.”
Championship
“Now people are starting to think about the championship, and I’ve been asked to do a bit of work. I know I’m going to miss it [playing], so I’d like to be involved in it.
“And being part of the games, not just Kilkenny, but the other games as well, will give me a good footprint into it.”
He's in talks with both RTÉ's The Sunday Game and Sky Sports. Between them, they will broadcast 45 live TV games this summer. He hasn't ruled out radio or print either.
Whether he goes with RTÉ or Sky, he will almost certainly be analysing Kilkenny’s performance at some stage.
“They both asked me would I like to do a bit of work, and I’m looking at one or two options, and what best suits myself. It’s commitment-wise, again. I’d said to Deirdre [his wife] at home that my commitments were going to finish. And if you’re involved with that, it’s a commitment again. So it’s just about weighing that up, to see what best suits myself. But I’m hoping to do a bit of work this summer, definitely.”
Shefflin hasn't yet consulted with former Kilkenny team mate Eddie Brennan, who since retiring in 2011 has been a hurling analyst with The Sunday Game and a Sunday newspaper, and he admits it will feel a little strange having to be critical of the current Kilkenny team and manager Brian Cody.
Critical
“Definitely, I would imagine the Kilkenny thing would be very difficult. But I’ve been critical myself of my own performances. If lads have bad performances, that’s the way it goes. It’s like anything in life. At the beginning you take credence of it, and then you realise that it’s just one person’s opinion. You do try and block yourself away and I did become better at that as the years went on.
“Then I got to the stage where if someone was saying something, there might be some merit in it. It’s something I’d probably know anyway, myself, and wouldn’t let it bother me too much. I just think I would enjoy it, more to be still involved more than anything else. I can say whether the public will enjoy it or not.”
