Anthony Daly has expressed surprise at the huge turnover of players in the Dublin hurling squad in the two years since he stepped down as manager.

His successor Ger Cunningham has taken a scalpel to the panel, with only six starters from the historic 2013 Leinster SHC winning side still involved.

"When I was quitting in 2014, I wouldn't have forecast it. In other ways, I can understand a little bit of Ger's thinking," the Munster hurling manager said at yesterday's launch of the inter-provincial series in Croke Park.

"He had to come in and freshen it. I wouldn't have seen it like that. I suppose people might have accused us of hanging on to the same fellas, but I don't think Dublin have slipped back in the pecking order. You have to remember in our time scale, we won in '13 - that was year five. We won Leinster, that was the one we were craving all along."

Daly doesn't envy Cunningham's task in trying to persuade dual players to opt for hurling, an issue which has once again been highlighted by Con O'Callaghan's sparkling form for Cuala in the Leinster club SHC.

"There is a touch of torture in it I suppose. I knew coming that it was going to be an issue," the former Clare All-Ireland winning captain recalled.

"I was surprised with a couple of lads, maybe that went the other way, but them lads coming out of minor - they were multi-talented and I suppose there was a play made for them on both sides and you can understand (their decision)."

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