The Tony Considine column: Most counties have no great interest in this hurling league but the little details can add up for the summer

Stephen McDonnell took a year out — its very hard to come back after doing that, especially at inter-county level.

But the major concern for Tipp is how long can they keep depending on Pádraic Maher Noel McGrath, Bonner Maher, Seamus Callinan, James Barry and Michael Cahill, to keep going? All of these are there for a good number of years now, and while they have been brilliant servants for Tipp, they are not getting any better of any faster. If anything they are going back a bit. This will be a concern for Liam Sheedy and Tipperary. Very difficult to replace players like those guys.

Hopefully they could be back for championship, but I think Clare needs their top players to come back to top form, especially guys like David Mcnerney, Podge Collins, Peter Duggan, John Conlon, and of course Colm Galvin and Tony Kelly — all at the top of their game and injury free. Big year for Donal Maloney and Jerry O’Connor as this could be their last one.
