A NEPHEW OF former All-Star and All-Ireland winner Sylvie Linnane is among eight players drafted into the Galway hurling squad.
Manager Micheál Donoghue has turned to youth to bolster his squad ahead of the defence of their national league and All-Ireland titles.
Eight players, seven who featured with the Galway U-21 squad last year, have been drafted into an extended panel and some could make their debut next Sunday when the Tribesmen open the defence of their league crown against Antrim at Pearse Stadium.
Sean Linnane from Turloughmore, whose father Gerry also played for Galway for a time, is among the newcomers who have been added to a large training squad.
Linnane was on the Galway U-21 team defeated by Limerick in the All-Ireland U-21 semi-final last year.
Others who featured on that team such as Conor Cosgrove (Ardrahan), Brian Concannon (Killimordaly), Joe Mooney (Loughrea), Kevin McHugo (Tommy Larkins) and Jack Coyne (Castlegar) were also on that team.
Concannon and Coyne were on the Galway minor team which won the All-Ireland title in 2015, with Shane Bannon (Clarinbridge) another member of that victorious side to be drafted in this month by Donoghue and his selectors.
The eighth addition to the squad is Shane Cooney from St Thomas, who joins up with older brother Conor, one of the stars of Galway’s All-Ireland triumph last September. Shane Cooney featured for several years with the Galway minors and U-21s.
Galway will be without some key figures such as captain David Burke and Joe Canning, both of whom are recovering from knee injuries, and Donoghue and his selectors may use their Division 1B campaign to experiment.
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