SEVERAL HIGH-PROFILE players have felt the impact of Galway’s new hurling regime, with outgoing captain Damien Joyce amongst the players left out of Anthony Cunningham’s 2012 training squad.
A former All Star in Ger Farragher and ex-team captain Shane Kavanagh were two others to suffer in the cull, with defenders Donal Barry, Adrian Cullinane and John Lee as well as forward Joe Gantley also excluded from the panel.
Cunningham and selectors Tom Helebert and Mattie Kenny have opted to introduce plenty of fresh blood however, with no less than 15 players from his U-21 All-Ireland winning line-up making the initial cut.
“The group is based on a mix of youth, experience, energy, commitment and desire to allow us to embark on the development process now required to build a Galway senior hurling team capable of success against the top teams during our three-year management term,” Cunningham and his backroom team explained.
“While our training panel contains a number of quality and experienced players that have represented Galway seniors over the last number of years and players that have impressed in this year’s county senior and intermediate club hurling championship, it is also strongly focused on youth.”
Giving some hope to the players axed, the statement continued: “We want to strongly emphasise that it is an open-ended panel and will be revised for the 2012 league campaign.
“Player performances during club and college campaigns will be closely monitored. In addition, the work that will be undertaken by the Galway development squad will be important in providing the environment to produce players that have the necessary attributes and potential to progress to the senior squad.”
The new panel will meet for the first time this coming Saturday to discuss winter fitness programmes for individual players before training begins in full in January.
Galway squad: J Skehill, D Collins, F Moore, T Og Regan, K Hynes, A Smith, C Donnellan, E Ryan, D Hayes, J Canning, M Lydon, J Ryan, B Daly, C Cooney, D Burke, D Glennon, D Connolly, G O Halloran, J Regan, J Grealish, J Coen, N Burke, R Cummins, B Regan, I Tannian, B Burke, C Burke, D Cooney, D Fox, F Flannery, N Donoghue, P Gordon, T Haran, A Harte, P Huban, M Horan, B Flaherty.