Tyrone senior hurling manager Kevin Ryan has issued a plea players who are capable of representing the county team to come forward

ONE of Ulster’s most high-profile hurling managers has bemoaned the fact that so many of the top players in the province don’t turn out for their counties.

Kevin Ryan – who is the current Tyrone manager – made the comments after they defeated Fermanagh in the Division 3A/3B relegation and promotion playoff.

He was referring to the problems which the Red Hand county faced earlier this year due to players deciding not to line out.

“It’s just annoying – and it seems to be a northern thing because it’s the same in Derry and Antrim,” he said.

“Any place you go up here in relation to hurling, a lot of players seem to have every excuse.

“You go down to Waterford and I know they’re operating at a different level. Both there and in Kilkenny, players would leave everything there to get a chance.

“Now I know there’s different aims. But I would think that Tyrone, which is a small hurling county, have the potential to be up a division or two and in the Christy Ring with a lot of work.

“You’d just love to see those eight or nine players who won’t come in, to come in and play so that we can get a decent professional outfit there and to give them every chance.

“For me, it would be fantastic for Tyrone over a year or two to get to Christy Ring level and be able to compete there. I think that would be a great achievement for a football county with three or four hurling clubs at the most.”

Ryan has also issued an appeal for players who are capable of representing the county team to come forward and make that commitment.

“There’s probably about 10 players out there who are capable of playing for the county and if we even had half of them then it would be a good advantage going into the Nickey Rackard,” he added.

“If we’re going to look to the future here, and I talk a lot about the off-season and what we can do to prepare for next year, it’s just annoying that a lot of players have an excuse.”