ANTHONY Nash has announced a u-turn on his hurling retirement.
Nash, the one-time Cork netminder, returned ‘home’ to Donoughmore in recent seasons and has lined-out for South Liberties. At the end of the last campaign, he announced his permanent retirement.
However, in his column on the42.ie, Nash revealed: “Why am I going back, just ahead of my 39th birthday? The usual combination that drives older players: a sense of duty allied to an element of madness and a love of the cause.
“It’s mad because I’m finally able to go on holidays with my family and I actually have a bit of spare time in the summer. That’s gone now before it began.”
The two-time All-Star continued: “And the hurling – this doesn’t sound great, but I won’t enjoy it. I’m ultra-competitive and any defeats or poor performances will stay with me longer than they should. A sense of satisfaction is the best I can hope for.”
“Then there’s the sense of duty which, I suppose, bleeds into love. South Liberties have been badly hit with injuries. They’re up against it and I wouldn’t have felt right if they’d struggled and I didn’t do my best to help.”
“I’m a proud Cork man but my ties with ‘Liberties precede my own entry into this world. My grandfather Paddy Shanahan kept goal for Liberties and my cousin Albert Shanahan also did so. Then there is the Nash side.
“Five of my uncles played on the team when I was growing up. There was Noel at corner-forward, Declan playing centre-back with Joseph the full-forward. Mícheál was centre-forward and Gerard was corner-back.
“If you picked a fight with one, you got five for your money. I remember Gerard getting a belt once and a battalion of Nashes advancing from various directions.
“These were the games where I’d stand behind the goal with my hurley and a dream. This was what I wanted to be a part of. My dad Tom played but by the time I was on the line he was a guard stationed in Kanturk and was no longer on the team.
Nash concluded: “To be able to wear the South Liberties No 1 jersey and make some kind of contribution to the club in the name of the Nashes and the Shanahans . . . Well, it means something to me.”
