Galway captain Conor Whelan has admitted that missing Saturday's top of the table Allianz Hurling League clash with Limerick is a blow and a significant "penance".
The All-Star attacker will sit out the Salthill encounter, along with Daithí Burke, having both picked up straight red cards in last weekend's defeat of Dublin.
Whelan was ordered off by referee Johnny Murphy for lashing out with the hurl at Dublin full-back Paddy Smyth.
Boss Henry Shefflin suggested afterwards that Whelan may have received "punishment" in the game and the Kilkenny great queried the level of protection afforded to his forward.
But speaking at the launch of Insomnia's five-year partnership with the GAA and GPA, Whelan declined to blame anyone else for the rare show of petulance.
"No, I just think, personally speaking, it's my responsibility," he said.
"It's the learning you take from it. When you're playing sport, sometimes it goes for you and sometimes it doesn't. Upon reflection, I probably would have handled it differently. I'm serving my penance for that."
Whelan, regarded as one of the classiest forwards in the game, shrugged at the suggestion that it was unlike him to act as he did.
"It probably just boiled over a little bit," he said. "Yeah, I'm serving my penance now. It's a massive game and test for the group. You're coming up against the league champions, the All-Ireland champions, Munster champions. It's definitely one you'd like to be playing."
Limerick are currently top of Division 1B with a perfect record after four games while Galway and Tipperary are locked on six points behind the All-Ireland champions.
So whoever wins at Pearse Stadium tomorrow will be guaranteed a semi-final place. The question is, do Galway want an extra game with the championship now on the horizon and a warm weather training camp coming too.
"We're going away in two weeks' time," said Whelan. "I'm not exactly sure of the dates to be honest."
So would a league semi-final and perhaps a final after that be a distraction they could do without?
"Competitive games are always the target," insisted Whelan. "Your focus is building towards the championship and I think we've played over 30 players in the league so far. You've players coming from a multitude of areas.
"You've St Thomas' lads coming off the back of their campaign. There's lads who were off travelling, like myself. You've Fitzgibbon Cup lads. So it's just trying to get them all up to the same level and a semi-final would be a great opportunity."
Powerful full-forward Johnny Glynn is unlikely to feature in the league at this stage though his recent return to the panel after a five-year absence will offer a fresh new dimension to Henry Shefflin's attack. The Ardrahan man, 30, who captained the New York footballers last year before impressing for his club in Ireland, is expected to travel with the Galway panel on the camp.
"He's back training with us (since) last week," said Whelan of his 2017 All-Ireland winning forward colleague. "He's gone back to New York this week. Johnny's a phenomenal guy, won an All-Ireland with him in 2017, know him personally as a friend as well.
"We've always stayed in contact. He played very well for his club last year. The guys wanted to see what he had to offer. He's in very good shape. We're hoping he's going to be part of the group."
Whether Glynn commutes back and forth from New York, as he has done in the past, remains to be seen.
"He'd probably want to move home to give himself the best chance of playing but there's lots of moving parts to that," said Whelan.
Kinvara man Whelan spent three months over winter in New Zealand, Australia and Japan. He used the time to help research a PhD on mental health and the wellbeing of athletes, interviewing people from various different sports.
The obvious question is how he feels the GAA shapes up in terms of looking after its players' mental health.
"I think there are significant gaps in terms of players being aware of what they're experiencing and the second part then is getting help for that," said Whelan.
Whelan's cousin, former Galway player Niall Donohue, died by suicide in 2013.
"Obviously Niall is a factor in it," said Whelan of his studies. "But I have a very big personal interest in mental health and well-being. Even travelling to Japan and Australia, you see the different ways that people live their lives and how that impacts their lives. Probably the biggest take-away from Australia was the weather and the impact that has on people.
"I think they live a lot of their life outside and it makes it easier to meet people. They're up at 5am and meeting people for coffee and stuff. In Ireland, on the dark mornings, I suppose that's not really a thing. It's definitely small things like that I suppose that travelling gives you."
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