Dream return in sight for Byrne
It has been facilitated, maybe sooner than he could have hoped for, by a number of injuries in the panel, which also sees the talented and committed Liam Cahill make a rare start.
Byrne's omission from the Kilkenny selection for the championship last year prompted his decision to switch clubs and, crucially, to also transfer his loyalty to Tipperary. Officers of the Graigue-Ballycallan club are reported to have made strong efforts to dissuade him from transferring to Mullinahone. However, once the former Cat's captain made up his mind to make the bold move, that was the end of the matter. In the meantime, he has maintained a dignified silence.
Byrne was Kilkenny's captain in their 2000 All-Ireland final triumph over Offaly, having produced a brilliant display in the semi-final win over Galway.
The following season he helped Graigue-Ballycallan to qualify for the AIB All-Ireland club hurling final, where they lost to Athenry.
Last season, he was part of the Kilkenny panel for the League, but he was injured for most of the campaign and failed to make the panel for the championship. He continued to hold out hope of a recall, but it didn't materialise.
Tipperary manager Michael Doyle was aware of the rumours of the pending transfer and "kept his ear to the ground".
"I knew that once he was coming to Mullinahone, he'd have an interest in playing for Tipperary,'' he said yesterday. "I was in touch with him a while back to see what kind of an interest he had and we've been keeping in touch over the last couple of weeks.''
Byrne trained with the team on Tuesday night for the third time. Two weeks ago he lined out in a challenge, against the Tipp intermediates, in a game arranged to try out Paul Kelly and Noel Morris, both of whom were returning from injuries. Morris played against Kilkenny last Sunday and, apart from turning in an excellent second- half display, pleased the selectors by lasting the full 70 minutes. Paul Kelly, on the other hand, was ruled out of consideration.
Doyle said that the management are interested in looking at other players who won't be available to them for a few weeks because of examinations. Eddie Enright was due to have rejoined the panel on Tuesday evening, but informed Doyle after Sunday's game in Nowlan Park that he had suffered a recurrence of his leg injury the day before.
John Leahy's re-introduction to the panel is not surprising, but it was no more predictable than Byrne's.
Interestingly, while acknowledging Leahy's skills and the "huge service" he has given to the county, Doyle made it clear that the Mullinahone man can't expect any favours. "One thing we have to do is to see that every player is on the panel on merit. We're not just going to put a guy on because of what happened a few years ago. We need to look at the merits and de-merits of the whole lot,'' Doyle said.
Right now, the primary objective is to get a settled team.
"There's no point in being very good one week and poor the next week. We're trying to get a level of consistency at this stage.''
Like the Clare manager Cyril Lyons, Doyle is not pleased that their League meeting on Sunday week will be just three weeks before they clash in the championship at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.
"We knew after the first stage that we were going to meet, but I thought that with a little bit of common sense above in Croke Park they could have worked it a bit better. It would have been better if we met a bit earlier.
"Limerick and Waterford, who will more than likely meet in the Munster semi-final, played their match last Sunday a long way away from when they will meet in the championship.
"I thought they could have done something similar with ourselves and Clare. But, at this stage, there's nothing we can do but go on and play the game,'' Doyle said.
*Three players could face disciplinary action from the GAC arising from a goal mouth flare-up late in the game in Nowlan Park.
Philip Larkin and Ger O'Grady were each yellow-carded by Waterford referee Michael Wadding, but it's alleged that a Kilkenny player should have been disciplined following a separate incident which arose from it. The fact that the other two players have been dealt with by the referee does not preclude the committee from taking further action if they feel it is justified by video evidence.
This will be the first test for the new committee, chaired by former Kerry secretary Tony O'Keeffe.
In the long term, new President Sean Kelly intends separating the duties of the GAC under the headings of 'Fixtures' and 'Discipline.'
He has also ruled that during discussion of any matter relating to Kerry, Mr O'Keeffe will stand down and the committee will be chaired by somebody else.
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