HENRY SHEFFLIN has stepped down as Ballyhale Shamrocks manager after a glory-laden two years in charge.
Just last Sunday, the 41-year-old managed his club to a record eighth All-Ireland club hurling title and second in succession - something that had never been previously achieved by a Kilkenny club.
As well as the two All-Irelands, Shefflin delivered a pair of county and Leinster titles having taken over immediately after retiring from club hurling in 2017.
Having hurled for Kilkenny for 16 seasons from 1999-2014, Shefflin won 10 All-Irelands in what remains the most successful playing career in GAA history. It’s likely family and professional commitments have influenced his decision having been playing and then managing at a high level for more than two decades.
In retrospect, there were, perhaps, pointers that Shefflin was edging towards standing aside given his comments in the aftermath of the three-point win over Borris-Ileigh last Sunday.
He said: “Tommy, my brother, has been an excellent, excellent trainer and he’s heading off to the Kilkenny camogie team.
“I didn’t think when I took on this job over two years ago that two years later we’d be standing here today.
“It’s nearly two years to the day exactly that we met up to start for the championship in 2018 – it’s an amazing way to finish it off.”
Shefflin has been touted as the man most likely to succeed Brian Cody as Kilkenny manager and it remains to be seen if Cody will move to absorb him into his backroom team in the coming years.
That appears somewhat unlikely in the short term with DJ Carey, Martin Comerford and Mickey Comerford having only been drafted in at the back end of last year following the departures of Derek Lyng and Michael Dempsey.
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