Offaly county board delegate and two-time All Ireland final referee Brian Gavin claimed last week that as many as 14 players had left the Offaly panel this year.
Offaly hurling has endured a humiliating year, with an eye-watering defeat in Nowlan Park and a hefty defeat against Tipperary in the qualifiers. In the spring, it briefly looked like the team could be heading for Division 2, before rallying to beat Kerry handsomely in a vital play-off. The only real spark from the year was a narrow victory over Antrim.
Whatever the criticisms of Brian Whelahan's stewardship, Offaly chairman Padraig Boland asserted in the Tullamore Tribune this week that a brains trust comprising of the finest managers in hurling couldn't keep a handle on some of the Offaly players.
There are issues, but there are also some guys hurling with Offaly and if you had Brian Cody, Anthony Daly and Davy Fitzgerald in charge, you still couldn't manage them. We had a couple of guys who walked off at a very late stage and I would question that.
Boland insisted that the annoyance with the managerial setup was not the only thing causing the high drop-off rate.
Some didn't have issues with the management but they had issues with the commitment of other Offaly players. There are disgruntled people on every panel.
Offaly's All-Ireland winning manager from 1981, Diarmuid Healy, a Kilkenny man who also played a role in rejuvenating underage hurling in the capital during the noughties, is to head up a committee examining all aspects of hurling in the county.
