RTÉ Sport has chosen 6 players to follow through the 2018 Championship. We will look at their careers to date, aims for 2018 and what success looks like for them and their counties. Under the spotlight today is Offaly defender Ben Conneely.
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For a while it looked like Ben Conneely was going to be a talent unfulfilled.
A growth spurt in his late teens meant the Offaly defender was plagued by back problems that hindered his progress.
His lithe frame also required time to fill out, and though the St Rynagh's man was blessed with ability, there were doubters.
"When I first met him, I thought Ben was going to burst on to the scene," former Faithful minor boss John Leahy told RTÉ Sport. "He had everything you want. His attitude was very, very good.
"He was long, he was lanky, and I always felt if he filled himself out he'd be a serious asset. What happened then was, in the middle of the first year that I was minor manager, because he was growing so fast he ended up with a back injury. We could never get him right that year.
"Even in the second year he was kind of struggling. I remember around that time you had people saying, 'ah Ben Conneely, will he make it or not make it?'"
So began a frustrating period for Conneely. He had to kick his heels for long stretches as his body kept growing and his frame adjusted to the changes but some sparkling displays for the Under 21s turned heads again and a senior championship debut came soon after.
A thrashing at the hands of Westmeath in Leinster wasn't exactly a dream start, with Conneely stationed in the forward line. Dropping him further back the field has proved a masterstroke.
"His versatility was actually going against him," says former Faithful attacker Brian Carroll.
"He's very assured, a very good hurler. He's quick and he's strong, for a young man, very intelligent. He's hurling years beyond him. Ben is very measured in his approach.
"It was getting very hard to pinpoint where his best position was. He's flirted with the forwards, with midfield and the half-back line but he seems to have settled at corner-back.
"That's happened a lot of hurlers. You can see that with Austin Gleeson - a top-class hurler but where is his best position? In fairness to Offaly they've nailed Ben down to corner-back and he's excelling there."
Conneely is coming off the back of a terrific league campaign. His consistency and athleticism were a feature of a good spring for Offaly, who pushed Kilkenny all the way in a 0-24 to 1-19 Allianz Hurling League Division 1 quarter-final defeat.
With the introduction of the new provincial format giving counties more championship air time, he'll have every chance to make his mark on the summer.
"I always felt he had the right attitude," Leahy adds. "There's very few you come across and you think they're the finished product if they're kept on the right track.
"In fairness, he was nearly 20 or 21 before he burst back on to the scene and people started talking about him again in the county.
"He's probably the only player I know that took that three or four-year period (to develop) but came out the right side of it.
"He's an unbelievable reader of the game. I think his best position is wing-back. He's like a third midfielder and an attacking forward, and he's always back to defend. He's brilliant at coming up to support.
"If there's a man-marking job to be done, Ben Conneely is the man for the job."
For Offaly, games against Galway, Kilkenny, Dublin and Wexford present a demanding and unforgiving challenge. A third-placed finish in Division 1B followed by that gutsy performance in defeat to the Cats offered encouragement; they'll be desperate for momentum to make it a long, happy summer.
"Ultimately we want to qualify out of the group but if you were to be realistic, we don't want to be relegated," Carroll says.
"We're realistic. We know we're not knocking on the door for winning Leinsters or All-Irelands but at least we're hurling with passion, we're hurling with pride, and that's not a throwaway statement.
"We genuinely are doing that. We know we're set up in a way that we are going to attack teams, and play with abandon, no fear. That's very important."
SIX TO WATCH
Follow Offaly v Galway this Saturday via our live blog on RTÉ.ie and the News Now App or listen to exclusive national radio commentary on RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on the Sunday Game on RTÉ2, 9.30pm.
