Henry Shefflin developing Galway squad to challenge - Tyrrell

Henry Shefflin used 37 players throughout the pre-season Walsh Cup, and the Galway manager is expected to continue his experimental phase throughout this year's Allianz Hurling League campaign.

Galway open up their Division 1A campaign with a tough test at Wexford on Saturday, a game that doubles up as this year’s Walsh Cup final.

And while Shefflin spent his first year in inter-county management developing a team that could compete at the highest level – they reached the All-Ireland semi-final in 2022 – year two will see the Ballyhale man attempt to establish a squad to thwart Limerick’s ambitions of winning their fourth All-Ireland in a row.

That is the opinion of Shefflin’s former team-mate, Jackie Tyrrell, who felt that Galway came up just short last year as a result of lacking the strength in depth that Limerick were in possession of in that closely contested semi-final.

Limerick edged that encounter by three points before going on to beat Kilkenny in the final, and Tyrell felt that Galway could have won it themselves if they had a stronger bench to get them through in the final stages.

"Looking back on last year, the one huge learning that Henry will have taken, and if you look at the All-Ireland semi-final where they came so close to Limerick, they just lacked that punch off the bench to get them over the line," said Tyrrell, speaking on this week's RTE GAA Podcast.

"Limerick were able to bring guys on to finish the job off, while Galway didn’t get that punch, so they will be looking to unearth new talent. Johnny Coen has stepped away and retired, so that is another option that has gone for him.

"That will be his big focus. Can he get more lads that can contribute and maybe even start, definitely coming off the bench,