BRIAN BARRY (25) BARRY (right) burst onto the scene in 2005 after an exceptional couple of seasons with UCD. His skills, especially from placed balls and sideline cuts, helped forge his way into the senior team, but he only went on to make three championship appearances. A bustling midfielder, he delivered great ball to his forwards but couldn't nail down a regular place af

BRIAN BARRY (25) BARRY (right) burst onto the scene in 2005 after an exceptional couple of seasons with UCD. His skills, especially from placed balls and sideline cuts, helped forge his way into the senior team, but he only went on to make three championship appearances. A bustling midfielder, he delivered great ball to his forwards but couldn't nail down a regular place after the 2005 Limerick clash. Currently studying for his final medicine exams.

BRIAN DOWLING (24) THIS guy is probably seen as the biggest loss of them all. A classy underage player, he was brilliant against Cork in the All-Ireland minor semi-final in 2001 and progressed quickly to score the winning point in the 2003 league final win. However, 16 months later he was dropped from the U21 team that beat Tipp in the All-Ireland final. He lost some form and hasn't featured much since.

KEN COOGAN (25) KEN was on the 2003 U21 team and did all his underage hurling in either the full or half-back line. He played at midfield against Cork in 2004 which was a strange move, considering he had excelled in defence for WIT in the Fitzgibbon Cup and had formed a reliable half-back line partnership at underage level alongside Jackie Tyrell and JJ Delaney. Transformed into a midfielder, he never produced the same heroics as he did at underage level, a huge pity considering his undoubted ability.

SEAN DOWLING (29) AN absolutely brilliant hurler on his day, Dowling was a class defender who loved to go forward. He was prone to changing his grip when attacking a ball on the ground but had a lovely tenacity about him. He won an All-Ireland senior medal in 2003 but left the panel in 2005.

JIMMY COOGAN (29) A NATURALLY gifted hurler who would still make many inter-county teams, Jimmy was a powerful man who won an All-Ireland U21 medal in 1999 and won a senior medal in 2002, but a few years later he did his cruciate and never reached the same standard again. He possessed great skill and it's a shame that he's still not on the big stage.

CIARAN HOYNE (23) THE youngest of the Hoyne brothers won an All-Ireland medal in 2002 and an U21 medal in '04. Ciaran was a huge prospect and played most of his best hurling at left wing back. As his chances dried up, he went to the US in 2005 and is training to be a teacher.

AIDAN CUMMINS (28) CUMMINS disappeared off the scene after winning a league and championship in 2003 and went to Australia for a year. He came back and hurled intermediate with Kilkenny in 2005 and recently lined out with Ballyhale Shamrocks in their All-Ireland club title success. Cummins got his chance in 2003 at left half-back against Dublin, but after that game he seldom featured.

PADDY MULLALLY (32) RICHIE'S brother Paddy featured with the Cats as far back as 1995 and played in the Nickey Brennan era. He began a carpentry business towards the end of his stint with the senior county team. A battling hurler, Cody saw something in him after a host of notable displays for Glenmore. An honest performer, he didn't really feature after the Clare game in 2005.

PAT TENNYSON (29) TENNYSON was a very good club hurler who came to prominence when Kilkenny were beaten by Wexford in the 2001 Leinster U21 semi-final. He caught plenty of ball that day after coming on as a sub. The Carrickshock man got a couple of runs under Brian Cody, but lost his place after the shock defeat to Wexford in the 2004 Leinster semi-final.

MICHEAL HOYNE (27) WON an All-Ireland medal as a sub in 2000, but Hoyne (above) experienced a back problem and would definitely have featured an awful lot more at centre back only for that injury.

CONOR PHELAN (24) HAD to quit the inter-county game due to a defective heart valve, but came back to win a Fitzgibbon Cup medal with WIT to add to his All-Ireland senior and U21 medals. He loved to gain possession and making space and excelled at winning hard ball in the half forward line.

Damian Lawlor