New Waterford hurling manager drops Connors and Shanahan from panel

New Waterford senior hurling manager Liam Cahill has taken the surprising decision to drop captain Noel Connors and Maurice Shanahan among others from his 2020 panel.

The Irish Examiner understands the players were informed by Cahill in phone-calls on Saturday evening.

The call to overlook three-time All-Star Connors, 29, will raise eyebrows given he had been a regular starter let alone his service to the county. It is even more unusual considering fellow defender Tadhg de Búrca is ruled out for the early part of next season with a crucial injury.

Shanahan, also 29, claimed an All-Star in 2015 and last lined out for the Déise in this year’s Munster SHC Round 3 defeat to Limerick.

*More details in tomorrow’s Irish Examiner