Limerick’s hurling crisis set to rumble on

THE Limerick hurling crisis looks set to drag on for another few weeks after last night’s meeting of the county board in Ballyagran decided that the club delegates of the players affected would meet with the county board at 8pm on Saturday, December 12, in Claughaun clubhouse.

The crisis was sparked off several weeks ago, when, in a panel drawn up to begin training for the 2010 season, 12 players were dropped, including the likes of Mark Foley, Andrew O’Shaughnessy, Niall Moran, Stephen Lucey, Donie Ryan and Mike O’Brien, players who had given years of service to Limerick and played in the championship this season.

The manner of their omission – team captain Mark Foley the only one to receive a call informing him of the fact that his services were no longer required – rankled with many, and over the past weeks nine more of the most experienced remaining players pulled out of the panel, leaving Justin McCarthy with only a fraction of the panel that began the 2009 season. Players were unhappy with the handling of the omission but also stated that they were unhappy with the methods and style of McCarthy and his management team, citing a lack of intensity at training sessions.