Henry Shefflin ‘a bit sad’ over Galway exit but insists next manager will reap ‘benefits’ of work done

Shefflin, who stepped down yesterday after three years in charge, admitted he found it hard to leave and was seriously considering seeing out the additional year he still had because of his firm belief that they are not far off.

"I don't feel that," he said of a potential rebuild during the course of an interview with 'Galway Bay FM'.

"I do feel there will be benefits from the last couple of years," he said. "I know Paul Bellew (county chair) has mentioned this before but we had nine players under 22 years of age, some of those who have been in the set up for three years, two years, one year.

"And I think next year will be a great opportunity as they move to 23, as they are stronger physically, I think they will be ready to take on the challenge of moving this Galway team in a different direction. That change is going to happen over the next couple of years.

"The person who comes in should be afforded that (time) will bring their own ideas but I do feel if they get the injured players back in, get some of those younger players in that I have spoken about and give them a good opportunity, the league next year (seven team Division 1) is set up perfectly.

"As much as you can train, it's the games where you really learn. If you think to the league next year - this is all stuff that I have considered - you have a very strong league, week-on-week, competitive games.

"I don't necessarily believe in this rebuild because all you need is a few new players being injected into the team, bringing a different energy. There are a lot of very good hurlers in that group and I have no doubt they will react next year."

Shefflin said he had the support of the board in Galway and the players to continue on into 2025 but felt the time was right to part ways.

"The competitor within us all in the management team felt 'should we go back?' We thought long and hard about it but felt it was the right thing for Galway going forward, to refresh and regenerate, and for myself as well. The cycle was right for someone else to come on," he said.

"(I'm) a bit sad truthfully. I really enjoyed my time up there. As I said at home last night, when you say goodbye to something that you really enjoy and really get great joy out of it, it's hard," said Shefflin, who stressed a number of times in the interview how well he was received in Galway and how much he enjoyed it.

He was particularly taken by the support and sympathy extended to him by the team and the people around them after his brother Paul died in 2022, not long after he had started.

"The talent will come to the fore," he predicted. "This year we didn't see that for various different reasons but I think next year, would I be surprised to see Galway get very competitive, absolutely not, that's well within the group."