Numbness at passing of one of the all-time great centre-backs

I’M still finding it hard to get my head around the passing of Tony Keady. Over the last few weeks, he had been more and more in my thoughts, between the Bord Gáis Energy Legends tour in Croke Park, and the run through his career he did to promote it. And with Galway v Tipperary in an All-Ireland semifinal last Sunday, sure The Keady Affair was always going to form part of the conversation.

He’s one of those iconic figures. Fit and strong, you’d swear he’d be around forever. It was shattering news for his family and anyone who knew him. A truly brilliant player, he was the last Galway hurler to win the Texaco Player of the Year Award, following Joe Connolly and Joe Cooney.

When you talk about the great centre-backs, he is always mentioned, right at the top of the list with players like Ger Henderson of Kilkenny and Seánie McMahon of Clare.

Only last Sunday I referenced the fabled Galway half-back line of the double-winning team of 1987-88 and how his power, leadership and long-rang free-taking inspired Galway.

Even when things didn’t go Galway’s way these past three decades, there was very little negativity out of Tony Keady (above).

He had the sort of personality that felt their day would come, so it’s hard to think their day might be around the corner and he won’t be there to see it. The hurling family is very close-knit and his death has prompted a fierce sense of loss and disbelief, leaving behind his wife Margaret and a devastated young family.

There is a numbness in the hurling community and for a county that was on such a high after qualifying for the final. It’s only natural when one of the county’s great players is gone.