A number of hurling stars departed the inter-county scene in 2021. We rank the top 10.
1 Joe Canning (Galway)
When announcing his decision to retire in July, Canning revealed that he had made his mind up that 2021 would be his last season long before a ball was pucked.
Still, the news, and particularly the setting in which he delivered it, came as a surprise given that he was still playing to a very high level and appeared to have another year or two left in him.
Canning was unusual in that, like David Clifford more recently, he had acquired a national profile while still a minor and it meant that the expectation surrounding his senior career could be suffocating.
Despite some spellbinding performances over the years, he struggled with that at times and it arguably wasn’t until Micheál Donoghue took charge of Galway that he fully delivered on his potential on a consistent basis in the biggest games.
One All-Ireland may seem like scant return but then it appeared that he might retire without any the longer his career dragged on pre-2017.
It’s hard to imagine that new Galway boss Henry Shefflin hasn’t yet made contact with Canning with a view to bringing about a u-turn but the 33-year-old was adamant when he stepped away that he wouldn’t be changing his mind and the recent news that he will join the county’s minor management team would appear to bear that out.
2 Brendan Maher (Tipperary)
Like Canning, Maher won two All-Ireland minor medals, captaining Tipperary to the 2007 success, before graduating to the senior side as part of a golden generation that included Pádraic Maher, Seamus Callanan Noel McGrath and Patrick Maher.
The five of them, along with Declan Ryan, are the only Tipperary players of the last 50 years to win three All-Ireland medals. The last two in 2016 (when he was captain) and ‘19 were particularly hard-earned with Tipp having failed to burn Kilkenny off in the years after stopping their five-in-a-row- bid in 2010.
Maher was tremendously adaptable, slotting in right across the half-back line, midfield and even centre-forward, while he was Young Hurler of the Year in 2010 as well as being shortlisted for the senior award that year and won three All Stars.
He also drove Borris-Ileigh to the 2020 All-Ireland club final. They’ll be glad to see more of him now.
3 Kevin Moran (Waterford)
Waterford endured something of a valley period between the last remnants of the side that won three Munster Championships under Justin McCarthy drifting away and the emergence of the team that has contested two All-Ireland finals since 2017. Moran emerged as a leader of real substance in that transitional period.
There was the increasingly rare feat of winning an All Star in 2012 from a team that didn’t contest an All-Ireland semi-final, he scored a memorable equaliser to force extra time against Kilkenny the following year and captained them to a League title in 2015.
He also skippered them to that All-Ireland final in 2017 and was shortlisted for Hurler of the Year as he picked up his second All Star.
Like several others listed here, could slot into any of the middle eight positions.
4 Conal Keaney
Similar to a number of players on this list, Keaney didn’t feature in 2021 as his retirement came last April, just as inter-county training was set to resume.
There was an extraordinary breadth to his inter-county career as he started with the hurlers in 2001 at just 18, combined both codes for the 2004 season before concentrating solely on football up to 2010 and then reverting to hurling only.
It meant that he missed out on the glut of football success that flowed from 2011 but he was central to the hurlers winning League and Leinster titles after decades-long intervals. A marvellously versatile hurler, he enjoyed an Indian summer after Pat Gilroy coaxed him out of retirement in 2018 when he was well into his 30s having retired under a bit of a cloud two years earlier.
5 Colin Fennelly (Kilkenny)
Fennelly didn’t feature this year having decided to sit out the 2021 season but formally announced his retirement from inter-county hurling in November after winning a 10th county title with Ballyhale Shamrocks.
A winner of four All-Irelands and All Stars in 2014 and ‘19, Fennelly struggled for consistency at times, particularly early on, but provided a strong physical presence up front while developing into a fine finisher as his career progressed.
Still in very good form for the club at 32, Brian Cody could certainly use his craft and experience.
6 Stephen O’Keeffe (Waterford)
Similarly, O’Keeffe opted to step back from inter-county hurling for 2021 and is not of a mind to return, confirming recently that, at just 30, he won’t be making himself available to Deise boss Liam Cahill again.
O’Keeffe has quite the legacy as a goalkeeper having effectively brought about an overhaul of how penalties and close-in frees are taken after charging from his goal to block an Anthony Nash bullet in 2014.
An All Star in 2017, he could link up with his outfield teammates very effectively, to the point of even picking off scores from play.
7 Eoin Cadogan (Cork)
A career somewhat similar to that of Keaney’s as he moved between the Cork hurling and football panels, often combining both in the same year. Luckily for him, he was in the right place and the right time when Cork won their only senior All-Ireland in the last 15 years, the football success of 2010, when he started the final against Down.
A tough and uncompromising defender in both codes, last year Cadogan became the first player since Alan Kerins in 2001, and possibly the last, to play in All-Ireland football and hurling finals, with the heavy defeat to Limerick proving to be his last appearance for the county.
8 Joey Holden (Kilkenny)
Enjoyed a dream season in 2015 as he won the All-Ireland club title with Ballyhale Shamrocks, was appointed Kilkenny captain, slotted in for the retired JJ Delaney at full-back, lifted the Liam MacCarthy Cup and received an All Star.
It wasn’t quite so rosy for him the following year as he was torched by Seamus Callanan in the All-Ireland final, though Kilkenny’s tactical naivete on the day left him badly exposed.
Had fallen out of favour and didn’t see any game time in this year’s Championship but, like Fennelly, has been in outstanding form for the club of late.
9 Aidan Harte (Galway)
Started his Galway career as a forward but having drifted out of the team, was reinvented as a wing-back from 2015 on and enjoyed a fine run of form during Micheál Donoghue’s reign, culminating in the 2017 All-Ireland win.
Slipped down the pecking order in 2020 but worked his way back into the side and earned an All Star nomination before announcing his retirement at 33 after the 2021 campaign, citing the physical toll on his body.
10 Bill Cooper (Cork)
Called time on his Cork career the same week as injury-ravaged Colm Spillane last month after a fine innings.
A three-time Munster winner, Cooper was a steady hand at midfield and a leader at a time when Cork perhaps didn’t have enough of them as they got a handle on Munster but struggled to find their best form in Croke Park.
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