Former All-Star Loonan in from the cold

Eugene Cloonan, who was once a lynchpin member of the Galway senior hurling squad, has been included in Tribesmen's 29-man panel for the 2006 Allianz National League.

The 27-year-old Athenry forward, who won an All-Star award in 2001, earns a recall after failing to feature in last season's run to the All-Ireland final. Cloonan's full-back brother Diarmuid has missed out however, while rising teenage star Joe Canning is still waiting for his first senior call-up.

Cloonan sustained an injury in last year's NHL, but despite recovering, his services were not required by Galway boss Conor Hayes during the championship.

Cloonan's club mate Michael John Quinn and three members of Galway's 1999 All-Ireland minor winning side, Conor Dervan, Michael Coughlan and Kevin Brady, have made Hayes' league panel.

Tom Tierney, Kevin Hayes and Noel Kenny, three of last year's squad, have been excluded.

GALWAY 2006 NHL SQUAD: L Donoghue, P Dullaghan, D Joyce, T Og Regan, O Canning, D Hardiman, S Kavanagh, D Collins, C Coen, L Hodgins, G Mahon, David Hayes, A Coen, F Healy, D Tierney, A Callanan, K Broderick, R Murray, D Forde, A Kerins, G Farragher, N Healy, Damien Hayes, D Donoghue, A Smyth, E Cloonan, MJ Quinn, C Dervan, M Coughlan, K Brady.