Portumna hurling All-Star Damien Hayes is keen to get back onto the field of play with Galway as soon as possible and he is not ruling out the possibility of being available as a sub this weekend against Tipperary.
"I’m still getting physio on the knee. I’m trying to be a sub the next day if I can. I’m doing a lot of rehab, work on the quads, hamstrings and calves, building them up,” he says.
That Galway are in winning form, despite his and clubmate Joe Canning’s absence, makes it a bit easier. "We’re all in it together and it’s great to see them winning."
Another league title would be no bad thing either, insists Hayes.
"At the end of the day, when you look back on your career you want to know what you’ve achieved and it was great winning the league last year."
After being knocked out of the championship in the All Ireland quarter-final by late points in the last two seasons, Galway now seems to be dishing out the same medicine. However Hayes maintains the camp has not put any greater emphasis on finishing games strongly .
"It’s not something we’ve discussed or anything. The game was in the melting pot and we were just lucky to get the two goals in the second half. Dublin missed a lot of frees and they know that themselves. They missed a lot of easy scores in the first half, but then again, we gave them a 0-5 to 0-0 head-start, so there are lots of things to work on with both sides. Lots."
Hayes has also welcomed players from the county’s All Ireland champions Clarinbridge into the panel. He was certain the club would go on to win the title after coming out of Galway.
"I was the only one who tipped them from the start. I said in an interview in November that they would go on and win the All Ireland, but nobody agreed with me. But they won it and they won it easy."
