Cillian McDaid

The Craughwell native lined out for Galway's minor hurlers at HQ in 2015 before trying out the oval ball in Australia.

He said something had to be done and he followed up by doing it, as well as kicking the point at the end to force penalties. “It was unfortunate from his point of view, but we were delighted to have him back. You knew wherever Cillian went, he was going to make a contribution.” But for injury, Fahy is certain McDaid would have been lost to the maroon for a lot longer than one year. Not many midfielders would have made the run he did to be on the end of that play and to execute the finish so well. “It was always going to be difficult to marry the two as he got older. Fahy was the Galway U21 manager in 2017. The 24-year-old started all bar two of Galway’s round-robin games in the League, this lack of injury interruption largely alien to him. When Cillian applies himself to something, he goes ahead and does it. "The injury was the big issue, just not being able to train. The injury sidelined him for 14 weeks and he only returned to play four more games with the Blues before the season wrapped up. “He struggled with injuries over the years. Hardly two months after pocketing an All-Ireland minor hurling medal, McDaid packed in the hurling.