Henry, it's been an absolute privilege.
It didn’t exactly come as a surprise, but the reality of no longer seeing Henry Shefflin in a Kilkenny jersey really hit home when he confirmed that he would be retiring from inter-county hurling this afternoon.
Shefflin confirmed the inevitable news at a press conference in Kilkenny this afternoon, but also delivered the good news that he’ll continue to play with his club Ballyhale Shamrocks, with whom he won a third All-Ireland club title on St. Patrick’s Day.
Certainly the greatest hurler of his generation, Shefflin will deservedly go down as one of the all-time greats and it’s fair to say we’re not going to see his like for a long time.
It’s also highly unlikely that anyone will match his ridiculous haul of ten All-Ireland titles, 11 All-Star awards, three All-Ireland club titles and three Hurler of the Year awards, achievements which tell only half the tale of his influence in black and amber over the years.
A leader, a warrior, a genius and a gentleman, we’ll miss him but he’s had one hell of a career.
On the announcement of his retirement earlier, Twitter queued up to pay tribute to the greatest of them all.
https://twitter.com/KilkennyCLG/status/580703155626864640
https://twitter.com/pat_nolan/status/580702970884538368
https://twitter.com/DaveMcIntyreNT/status/580707427491909633
https://twitter.com/ShaneSaint/status/580705767696809984
https://twitter.com/TipperaryGAA/status/580706520926699520
https://twitter.com/johnodwyer14/status/580707238861475840
https://twitter.com/tomas5ky/status/580710258747817984
https://twitter.com/Jamwall7/status/580495691044286464
https://twitter.com/nbrez/status/580697076650110976
https://twitter.com/MarkMcHugh1/status/580706908220329985
https://twitter.com/PunditArenaGAA/status/580432169165815809
