To grasp just how novel this upcoming All-Ireland final will be, you need only look at the sideline and the profile of the two selectorial teams compared to who was there last year, writes Kieran Shannon.

Jason Flynn was reared on tales from the 80s; nothing but stories to cling to as he hurled countless All-Ireland finals against the gable end above in Ballinakill.

It is 40 years this weekend since Galway returned to hurling’s high altar, their 1975 All-Ireland final appearance bringing to an end the county’s 17-year wait for a September sojourn to Jones Road.

Jackie Tyrrell faces a major fitness battle to be available for Sunday week’s All-Ireland SHC final although Brian Cody has allayed fears about Eoin Larkin’s thumb injury.

There was a time, back in the late 1990s and throughout most of the 2000s, when every Galway defeat was followed by plaintive calls from the vanquished westerners to change the system.

It’s not the malaise that shadows the Galway senior hurling team that exercises Tony Keady most. 

Former Galway manager Noel Lane has called on current incumbent and former team-mate Anthony Cunningham to settle on positions for his players.

Filing an attendance yarn during the week, the mandatory phone call was put in to Kilkenny chairman Ned Quinn.

Nowhere are the travails of a county longing for an All-Ireland more documented than Galway

ALLIANZ FL DIVISION 1 FINAL:

ALLIANZ HL DIVISION 1A:

Brendan Lynskey looks back on it now and chuckles.

Ground hurling and urban development.

It was the game that convinced Brian Cody to turn the thermostat down — way down — on his relationship with Kilkenny’s players.

Brian Cody is managing Kilkenny into an All-Ireland final for the 12th time.

WHEN it comes to the All-Ireland MHC there is one manager who stands head and shoulders above everyone else – Galway’s Mattie Murphy.

GALWAY recorded their first championship win over Cork in 1975 but then made something of a habit of it with victories in 1979, 1985, 2002 and 2009.

TWO weeks ago, on the day Galway faced Dublin in the Leinster semi-final, three former greats came out with stinging criticism of John McIntyre’s players in a newspaper article.

Joe Canning has said the former Galway players who slammed the current team were wrong to question their mental fortitude, the Irish Examiner reports.

JOE CANNING has said the former Galway players who slammed the current team were wrong to question their mental fortitude.

IT’S hard to see anything funny about a proud hurling county and proud hurling men being disparaged as Galway and its manager and players have in recent days.

The critics are rounding on Galway after last night's disappointing Leinster SHC semi-final defeat to Dublin - but manager John McIntyre insists they will close ranks and come back stronger.

MORE than a decade after watching twin brother Michael establish himself on the Galway hurling team, Liam Donoghue is all the more conscious of making the most of his time at the top level.

Conor Hayes was reappointed as Galway hurling manager at last night's county board meeting.

MATTIE MURPHY has withdrawn from the race to elect a new Galway hurling manager after his nomination as Galway hurling manager was controversially rejected earlier this week.

Galway's next hurling manager should be known tonight following a meeting of the county board.

The race for the Galway hurling manager's job has been reduced to two candidates after former boss Noel Lane withdrew from the running.

BRIAN CODY aims to “freshen things up” with the appointment of two new members to the Kilkenny senior hurling management team.

Galway hurling manager Conor Hayes has admitted he is feeling the pressure from ex-Tribesmen boss Mattie Murphy to retain his post.

Galway All-Ireland-winning minor hurling boss Mattie Murphy could be in line to take the helm of the senior set-up.

VICTORIOUS All-Ireland minor boss Mattie Murphy could be in line to take charge of the Galway seniors for the third time.

Galway’s Alan Kerins tried hard to make the GAA’s dual mandate work, but it almost drove him to distraction. His decision to focus on hurling is a bonus for Conor Hayes — and for the county’s bid to claim Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League final. Diarmuid O’Flynn reports.

THE memory of Connacht rugby player and all-round sports fanatic Dr Joe Costello will be honoured on Friday when a galaxy of sporting stars gather at Galway Golf Club.

ELITE athletes, we are led to believe, have the best of everything. The right conditions, the right equipment, the best of surroundings and the finest management back-up money can buy.

Former Galway senior hurling manager Mattie Murphy has been appointed boss of the county minor side.

THESE are not good times to be a senior inter-county hurling manager.

Recently installed Galway senior hurling manager Conor Hayes says his glorious playing career is the foundation on which he'll build his managerial career.

WHILE the appointment of Conor Hayes as the new Galway senior hurling manager over the claims of incumbent Noel Lane will have come as a surprise to many outside the county, according to long-serving hurling secretary Phelim Murphy, it had been well flagged locally.

Galway hurling legend Conor Hayes has been appointed manager of the county's senior team following a vote at a County Board meeting last night.

PADJOE WHELEHAN, who has managed Birr to three All-Ireland club titles last night admitted that he has been interviewed for the vacant Offaly hurling management position.