Limerick hurling captain Gavin O'Mahony was shocked when Donal O’Grady decided to call time on his connections with the Treaty inter-county side.
Former Cork boss O’Grady came in this year on a one-year term and brought life to a county side that had fallen way below their own standards last year, not helped by the divide created between senior players and then manager Justin McCarthy.
O’Grady changed much of that, leading the side to the Allianz Hurling League Division Two title and an All-Ireland quarter-final - as elements of the short-passing game he played with Cork came into Limerick’s game, and prodigious young fowards Declan Hannon and Kevn Dowens were set on opposition defences.
He decided this week not to commit to a second year, surprising and disappointing many, not least the man who led his players onto the field of play this year.
"It was a huge shock to be honest," O'Mahony, of Kilmallock, told the Limerick Leader. "I was fully sure that he would stay and especially with all the talk around the county.
"I spoke to a few of the lads and they were all taken aback. When I spoke to them, they were actually expecting a phone call in the comings weeks to say that we would be back in the gym.
"In fairness he did a lot of work in 12 months and I know that the players learned a lot from him and so did the selectors.
"He has made his own decision and he is a private person and he was always going to make his own decision."