Shefflin out

[corner back]

A few of the regulars here don't have much time for him but I think it is a terrible shame to hear Shefflin is out for the attempt at the 5 in a row.

[Fido]

I wonder if they're winning it handily will they walk him on for the last minute? It'd be a bit insulting to the opposition but you couldn't begrudge him - although, maybe some could. It's natural that he's not beloved by all, we're all sick of Kilkenny winning at this stage and he's maybe the one player that symbolises that more than any. Add to that the little things like throwing the ball ahead in the tackle as if he had any intention of taking it on his stick...
But the fact is he's a great player and it'd be churlish to wish him ill. He deserves recognition, and Kilkenny probably deserve the 5 in a row.
And then, can they please all retire or go on the booze or get fat and lazy or complacent and leave us all alone.

[Plain of the Herbs]

I agree, it is a shame that one of the all-time greats won't be able to line out on what should be KIlkenny hurling's greatest day.
Don't forget there are two 5-in-a-row attempts - Ballyhale are going for a 5 timer too.

They're not short of options though - Martin Comerford's first contribution last Sunday was to convert a particularly dificult opportunity from the left-hand touchline. They could also introduce Michael Rice to the 11 slot.

Thing is there will be no chance of the Kilkenny public counting chickens now and the talk of the county for the next three weeks will be "who'll take his place?" rather than the dreaded "if they play like they did the last day, they'll win".

As another coincidence with Kerry in 1982 falls into place - Kerry had a leading attacker with cruciate trouble too. All they need now is Paidí Ó Sé looking for signs in the pigeons and the like.

A few of the regulars here don't have much time for him but I think it is a terrible shame to hear Shefflin is out for the attempt at the 5 in a row.

[bracknaghboy]

A great player indeed and you can't argue with what he has done. But as for having any sympathy for him, well I can't say I have any. He's just another player injured for a game as far as I'm concerned. Who knows, perhaps this will rattle them a bit? His absense from the starting 15 is obviously a blow but the media attention this will get and the questions of who will take his place and can he step up and play as well as Shefflin is the type of distraction Coady doesn't want as he'll already have a job keeping the "drive for 5" talk from getting into the players heads too much. Interesting

[ballinamereman1]

A great player indeed and you can't argue with what he has done. But as for having any sympathy for him, well I can't say I have any. He's just another player injured for a game as far as I'm concerned. Who knows, perhaps this will rattle them a bit? His absense from the starting 15 is obviously a blow but the media attention this will get and the questions of who will take his place and can he step up and play as well as Shefflin is the type of distraction Coady doesn't want as he'll already have a job keeping the "drive for 5" talk from getting into the players heads too much. Interesting

bulls**t.. shefflin although what a great player he is wont be missed.. they didnt against cork. when you have the likes of fogarthy, larkin, cha, eddie, martin, richie power for firepower shefflin wont be missed. without a doubt shefflin has been brilliant and he carried and made scores for carey late into his career to make dj look young again however there will be no such thing as shefflin missing out bein a blow. the will use it as a motivator .. i can see cody dropping the line "look what henry has done for killkenny hurling, now lads he get be out there today but lets do it for hhim." or something along does lines only difference is itll be delivered with more gusto from the man himself.. killkenny prob desrve the 5 in a row.. the greatest team of all time.. but something inside me wants tipp to win.. i knew after last year and the manner in which they were bet the would be back this year but did they miss there chance last year.. or will we see a loopy noel mcgrath shot beat pj in the last minute for even more of a resemblence of a certain year when we denied the kingdom a famous five in a row..

As another coincidence with Kerry in 1982 falls into place - Kerry had a leading attacker with cruciate trouble too. All they need now is Paidí Ó Sé looking for signs in the pigeons and the like.

A few of the regulars here don't have much time for him but I think it is a terrible shame to hear Shefflin is out for the attempt at the 5 in a row.

[leinsterman]

i am living down here in kilkenny the last few years and they are hell bent to win five in a row or maybe six or seven
with the talent thats coming on the line here in kilkenny its scary.

as for shefflin sorry to see him miss the final a fine and fair hurler one of the best ever but down here in catland
the one hurler they wanted back this year was Noel Hickey and it has showed they have not let in any goals this year so far
as for last year they let in a fair few and JJ also is out where he hurls best in the number 7.

i wish the cats do meet our lovely friends that live next door to us in offaly and hurl the sh.t out of them in the final
i know kilkenny love beating offaly as well but i was born and live in Birr and know what the dark side think of offaly hurling.

as for living in kilkenny this 15 years now i have meet many a kilkenny hurler from the 80s and 90s and they all had nothing but good to
say about our hurlers. meet brian cody last year at the kilkenny under 21 hurling final and he said he would love to see offaly hurling back again
and that leinster and hurling needs a strong offaly team .could you see Babs saying that i hear he said after we beat antrim in extra time that we belong
in the christy ring that was our level.

[drummy]

devastated for henry, i was looking forward to seeing henry and tommy w in particular. however it would be great to see tipp or waterford do it

[Efan]

Disappointed for Shefflin, it’s never nice to see a player pick up a nasty injury of that nature particularly the wrong side of 30.

Lots of talk “if anybody can afford to loose a player like him its Kilkenny”. That’s correct but it certainly leaves them a bit more vulnerable. He is a great link player and drives their forwards on (see the first goal last Sunday), his “referee management” is always worth a few points to them and his is uber reliable from placed balls especially in pressure situations (penalty in last years All Ireland).

In the All Ireland against Limerick a few years back they lost him at a similar stage of the game to alst Sunday and it ended up being a game that a poor Limerick team could have tripped them up in if they had a bit of belief. Last Sunday against Cork they were a bit listless in the second half though the game was well won.

Cody has 3 weeks to prepare for his loss and to goad the others into “stepping up to the plate”. This is easier than loosing him either the week before or mid game. I’d say he would hate top have another stand over a last minuet penalty to pull it out of the fire. It certainly weakens Kilkenny but by how much we will see on the 5th of September.

[Black Spot]

I have to say i do feel sorry for Henry he is the one of the greatest hurlers if not the greatest of all time and i wouldnt begrudge him his 5 in a row simply because he deserves it,

saying that however i would love to see Killkenny being beaten in the final preferbly by waterford as i didn,t like tipperarrys cockeness and jeering supporters over in portlaoise,and would like to see that waterford bunch winning somthing as this is surley there last crack at it before there are alot of retirments saying that i think that tipp or waterfords chances still remain the same,fairly slim.

If you look at the managers over the 3 teams Fitz,Sheedy and Cody they are the best in the business all with diffrent styles but are top class motivators. Cody is still the pick of the bunch and will turn Sheffling missing into a massive motivational thing and i think it puts a little more pressuare on waterford and tipp that they should be able beat killkenny without their star man.

[black and red exile]

We better hope Tipp win next Sunday if we want to see any sort of a match on all Ireland day. As for Mr Media, good riddance to the David Beckham of hurling even though we will have to listen to crap about ''King Henry'' missing out on a historic day from TV and written media swooning about him like love struck puppies

[leinsterman]

We better hope Tipp win next Sunday if we want to see any sort of a match on all Ireland day. As for Mr Media, good riddance to the David Beckham of hurling even though we will have to listen to crap about ''King Henry'' missing out on a historic day from TV and written media swooning about him like love struck puppies

Thats a bit hard there black and red exile i don't think shefflin sees himself as the Beckham of hurling his a bloody good hurler that's what he is a leader
what offaly hurling is missing for the last ten year's.

you seem to forget when offaly were on winning allirelands in the 90s we were saying the same about johnny Dooley and Sid
when Sid got the 1-6 and won the club allireland in 1998 with Birr the media were saying he was the best ever.

kilkenny had many great hurlers down the years Shefflin took over from DJ Carey and there will be someone to take over Shefflin when he goes
Shefflin and kilkenny don't need the tv or written media to swooning them they do there talking on the hurling field unlike Donal og .

as for the final if kilkenny hurl to there best won't matter who's in it they will win it easy enough.

[DD]

We better hope Tipp win next Sunday if we want to see any sort of a match on all Ireland day. As for Mr Media, good riddance to the David Beckham of hurling even though we will have to listen to crap about ''King Henry'' missing out on a historic day from TV and written media swooning about him like love struck puppies

Jasus..you're a bitter f*cker

[black and red exile]

Well DD I don't really give a toss what nobodys like you think, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. The one thing I've noticed on this site is that if anybody goes against the grain and has a different opinion to the knowalls they are torn asunder. TOUGH, the one thing we still have free in this rat hole of a country is free speech.

[Bord na Mona man]

The King Henry stuff is mostly a creation of RTE people like Ger Canning and Cyril Farrell. I don't believe Shefflin has done anything to court media attention, apart from delivering on the field that is.
DJ Carey was probably more forward when it came to facilitating the media.

Regardless, its no harm to have GAA news stories topping the headlines. Over the winter there'll be plenty of media attention given if Wayne Rooney breaks a toe-nail or Leinster announce one change to their Magners League team against the Scarlets. If we want GAA stories to be more than just a footnote, then be prepared for items like this to get mentioned.

On Shefflin's situation. I don't think its that huge a deal to his legacy whether he plays in the final.
The potential 5 in a row id down to 20+ championship matches in which he contributed handsomely, rather than one particular 70 minutes.

Shefflin is also a great example of what can be achieved by players through hard work. He isn't blessed with great pace or isn't an outrageously gifted stick man (IMO anyway). However he has a superb ability to execute the core skills of the game meticulously. His reading of the game is uncanny. Its no accident how the ball seems to break his way and follow him as if his hurley is magnetic. The advantage this sixth sense giver him makes the rest of his game look easy.

As a Kilkenny minor he was by no means exceptional, but he put in the hours on the handball alleys and training field to make real strides in his game. I wonder is there a lesson that can be taken for young players in Offaly? Are teams too quick to cherry pick a few stand out underage players and ignore the development needs of others? Are individual players given enough attention, or does the need to get a teams prepared for short term tilts at trophies override all else? That's probably another day's discussion I suppose.

[leinsterman]

often brought the kids into the field to see kilkenny train Henry shefflin and tommy walsh and JJ delaney would be the last
ones off the field at night after talking and signing kids jerseys .

you should also go down and see the time they give the Down syndrome kids that come in every night with their dads to watch them train
i have a uncle whos son is Down syndrome in kilkenny and tommy walsh makes it his business most nights to have a chat with him throws him
a hurling ball or a odd time a jersey you should see him it makes his week. you don't hear about that on the media about tommy walsh
only that his a dirty hurler he has a heart of gold as does Henry shefflin with the kids.

i wouldn't have know this only for i live down here now and i can tell you they are a sound bunch of lads, and shefflin is no Beckham of hurling
i am sure it goes on in most counties as well just seen it in kilkenny myself.