KIRBY: SUCH A SHAME FOR SHANE
Treaty hero forced to quit at 27
LIMERICK legend Gary Kirby says the retiring Shane Dowling will be a “massive loss”.
Shock news of Dowling’s decision to quit intercounty hurling at just 27 emerged yesterday, the Na Piarsaigh clubman accepting defeat in an ongoing battle with a knee problem that has already required three operations and may need more.
He has been suffering with osteochondroma, an overgrowth of cartilage, since 2017 and admitted yesterday that “my knee can no longer support the demands of inter-county hurling”.
The ace forward doesn’t know as yet whether he will be able to line out even at club level in the future.
Although he only completed seven seasons at senior inter-county level, Dowling still managed to overtake 90s hero Kirby as the county’s all-time leading scorer, hitting 21-292 in 59 League and Championship games.
Indeed, Kirby
(left) didn’t win his first Munster title until he was the age Dowling is now, and went on to play in two All-ireland finals – an indication of just how much Dowling could be missing out on.
In recent years, he has largely had to make do with an impact sub role for Limerick, often with devastating effect, particularly in the run-in to the historic All-ireland success in 2018 as he chipped in with critical scores against Kilkenny, Cork and Galway.
Kirby said: “Shane has had a fantastic career, between the Limerick under-21s and seniors, and also his club Na Piarsaigh. He has been a great servant to Limerick hurling.
“Look, the injuries curtailed him in the last year or two. What he contributed every time he came on will never be forgotten by the people of Limerick.
“He’s going to be a huge loss. Personally, I would say one of the reasons he hasn’t been starting is because of the injury.
“They knew deep down there was never going to be 70 minutes in him so I’d say that’s why John (Kiely) held him back.
“He’s going to be a massive loss to Limerick. To replace him, someone’s