Waterford manager Derek McGrath has confirmed that Shane Bennett will play no part in their championship campaign this summer.

Speaking to The Irish Independent at the launch of the All-Ireland GAA golf challenge yesterday, the Deise boss revealed that he has failed to convince the key forward to commit to the county's cause for 2018.

"I've been unable to persuade him to come back.

"It looks like there's no go for Shane in terms of coming back. We've tried very hard now in terms of conversations with him. He's a very important player for us but he's absolutely entitled not to commit to it. We have to have respect to that.

"Over the four years we've espoused the whole value of living. Tom Devine came to us at the end of the league last year and said he was going travelling for the summer.

"I'm not sure if Shane is definitely going travelling or not, but I'm sure there are alternatives there in terms of what he wants to do. He's a great lad and we wish him well.

"I think it's important to move forward now and it's not as if we don't have an open-ended panel."

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