Captain by accident, leader by nature

IT TOOK an accident of circumstance for TJ Ryan to become captain of the Limerick hurlers, the first player from Garryspillane to ever achieve that honour.

County champions Patrickswell had the captaincy rights, but by the end of the current League campaign, didn't have any regular on the starting 15. No-one familiar with the Limerick hurling scene over the past decade was surprised then when, despite the presence of a number of other worthies, the choice became full-back TJ Ryan, leader by nature and by design. No-one, that is, but the man himself.

"I didn't expect it, the way things were in Limerick, but this is just the way it worked out," he said. "It won't change anything for me; when you've been around as long as I have, you get a bit of experience along the way, tend to lead anyway, so the captaincy doesn't make much difference really, in that sense.