It might have been expected but the retirement of Brian Lohan from intercounty and the hanging up of his iconic red helmet will for many bring the curtain down finally on a great era in hurling.
His colleagues from the great days of the 1990s, Seán McMahon and Colin Lynch, have yet to make up their minds but they are expected to follow suit, which would leave goalkeeper David Fitzgerald as the sole survivor from the Clare team that won the 1995 All-Ireland under Ger Loughnane.
Lohan was an outstanding full back and won four All Stars, three in succession from 1995 to '97, playing a central role in Loughnane's formidable team, which won two All-Irelands in 1995 and 1997. He was named GAA Writers' Hurler of the Year in 1995. Despite developing late - he didn't get selected for the county minors and even struggled to get a place on his school team and he believed that he wouldn't graduate from under-21 to senior - his impact on the county's great years was considerable.
Having established himself on the improving Clare side of the early 1990s, he came to the fore under Loughnane. Although big and strong, he wasn't at his most comfortable in the air but his speed and ability to pick a ball at pace and launch long, relieving clearances became a trademark of the team. In his biography Raising the Banner Loughnane said of the player he appointed captain in 2000: "I know that in the fullness of time, Lohan will become a legendary character, even more than he already is. The characteristics he showed, the nerve for the big occasion, the intelligent play - I've never seen a full back like him.
"In all aspects of his life he is ambitious. He's driven to succeed but he is totally calm, calculating person."
Speaking to this newspaper last February Lohan made it clear that the burden of being an inter-county hurler was getting harder to bear. "I lost a yard of pace going back to the late 1990s and did something to change that. Weights work improved my speed. Look at the last two years. Last season I'd a lot of work done in November and December. With good core work done, I'm able to get through the season. The year before I hadn't the gym work done and was hardly able to get through an entire game that season. You have to do the extra work or you'll be found out. It's a bit of laziness. You can get soft with yourself, cut corners and think you can get away with it.
"I probably haven't the same single mindedness. Ten years ago when I was preparing for a match I'd the headphones in the ears, getting myself right. It's not something I think about too much but I'm different to what I was. Still, I'm hard to live with the week of a match."
Meanwhile, Richie Bennis, who took over as manager of the Limerick senior hurling team on a temporary basis following the resignation of Joe McKenna, was last night handed a two-year term in office. Mickey Ned O'Sullivan is to continue as manager of the Limerick footballers for another two years.
Offaly last night became the latest county obliged to seek a new football manager following the decision of Kevin Kilmurray to step down from the position he has held for the past two years.
