Henry Shefflin’s autobiography, documenting the career of one of – if not the – game’s greatest talents, was launched tonight by Kilkenny senior hurling manager Brian Cody in front of a packed audience at The Hub, Cillin Hill.
PHOTOS: See photos from Henry Shefflin’s book launch here.
Getting the night underway, Brendan Hennessy (KCLR Sport) introduced former senior county team mates Tommy Walsh and JJ Delaney (who, incidentally, faces Shefflin in club quarter final this weekend) along with long-time friends Eamonn Corcoran (Tipperary) and Ken McGrath (Waterford).
LISTEN: Brian Cody pays tribute to Henry Shefflin as he officially launches book.
One of the recurring themes of the night was the tribute to Shefflin’s workrate, which still continues at club level for Ballyhale Shamrocks.
When asked for his own insights on Shefflin, Tommy Walsh had this to offer…
“On the training field we were all blessed because, when we came in first you had the likes of Andy Comerford, Peter Barry, Martin Comerford (Gorta), all these lads that were massive to train.
When you’ve the experienced lads, the older lads training like that, it always made you try and train just as hard. Then you had Henry come along and he was probably three, four times more than that and regards, I suppose, everyone at the time was saying he was the best hurler in Kilkenny – he was the best hurler in Ireland.
When you’ve got the best hurler in Ireland not going around with any airs or graces and he was training like a lunatic, you wanted to be able to train just as hard as him, just to be able to mark him.”
Take a listen below to find out what else Tommy had to say, along with JJ Delaney, Eamonn Corcoran and JJ Delaney.