Henry Shefflin needs time to deliver as Galway hurling manager, says Ollie Canning

Shefflin leads Galway into championship action on Saturday evening

There has been major hype around the Galway hurlers thus far in 2022, following the appointment of Henry Shefflin as the senior hurling manager.

The Kilkenny legend's move to the west has sparked widespread intrigue, but four-time All-Star with the county Ollie Canning says immediate results should not be expected.

"I think in Galway, the expectation there and I get this feeling as well is that Henry needs to be given a little bit of time to get in there and get to know the players," said the Sky Sports pundit.

"I don't see that much pressure internally in Galway on the management team to deliver the goods this year. All of these things, I believe take time to build up the team morale and work rate and all these great things that Henry was associated with in Kilkenny for years. That does take time, and I think Galway need to give him that time.

"This year's league has been middle of the road. A few periods in games where they look very impressive. And then other periods where they were playing second fiddle to the teams they were playing against."

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I don't see that much pressure internally in Galway on the management team to deliver the goods this year.

Canning says there is no pressure on Shefflin this year

Canning feels Shefflin's arrival has given a lift to the group:

"Would he [Shefflin] be a bounce internally for the panel? I think he definitely would be. What Henry has done on the field, not to mind his own managerial career with the club, etc, but what he achieved with Kilkenny and his own standards that he set during his career...Why would you not get a bounce from that? And why would you not want to learn from that? Why would you not want to try and get some of that knowledge and experience from Henry?

"So for me, I think Galway players were really looking forward to this year. But as I said, not too much noise out there about the Galway preparation so far. So I'm really looking forward to what they produce in the championship in April."

Shefflin and Canning enjoyed many battles at both club and intercounty level

Although many see Galway as a rebuilding project for the Kilkenny great, Canning feels that he will be relying on the tried and trusted this year.

"Up front, you're going to be looking to the likes of Brian Concannon, Conor Whelan will be a vital cog in the wheel, Cathal Mannion. Have we seen any breakthrough players? That's been a mixed bag I think for him. So I think he'll still be dealing with the same 20, 22 players that we've seen over the last couple of years," Canning said.

"Maybe Evan Niland might push into the team.

Could Niland kick on in 2022?

"Getting out of Leinster is first and foremost [the goal]

"You can't look beyond that, because it is very competitive. I think Galway are probably fourth or fifth or something like that in the running at this stage. Based on form, Limerick, the league was up and down for them, I still think they have enough credit in the bank from the last couple of seasons. Waterford are going well. And Cork were deserving league finalists. I think they're ahead of Galway.

"And there are a number of teams after that in the pack, the likes of Kilkenny, Tipperary, Galway, Wexford, Dublin, Clare. On any given day, that group of teams, a puck of a ball might separate them."

First up is a tricky assignment as they travel to Wexford for the Leinster Championship opener, live on Sky Sports.

"Wexford will be disappointed after the last day. They conceded a big score against Waterford. They won't be happy with that," Canning said.

"Both teams will be coming in, some good things, some bad things during the league. But for sure, both managers and both panels will have had this date in their head from a long way out, from the start of the year, that they need to be ready for the 16th of April.

"I don't think they're going to be overly concerned about the league. But at the same time, if you do see some internal trends that happen in a game, or a team going out of a game for periods in a game, sometimes it's hard to rectify that, because they don't have any time this year, because you're straight into the championship within a few weeks."

Sky Sports' live GAA coverage gets underway on Saturday, with exclusive coverage of Wexford vs Galway in the Leinster Hurling Championship, followed by Fermanagh vs Tyrone in the Ulster Football Championship.