Henry Shefflin: Honouring a true hurling great

Should Henry Shefflin per chance not bid farewell to his inter-county career today, the following can be dismissed as the musings of a man who presumed too much. 

But then no excuse should ever be needed to pay homage to the most decorated, most dedicated hurler of his generation and beyond.

The timing of this expected announcement in the week of a relegation play-off will be lost on the few. Life without Shefflin is set to begin in the most inauspicious of circumstances. An announcement had to come, though. As he said himself, it’s not just he who has grown tired of the “will-he, won’t-he” circus. Rather let the cloud pass than hang over Sunday’s game.