In his 12th season, it took Conor Whelan just nine seconds to set the tone for Galway in this year’s Leinster senior hurling final.Straight from the puck-out, he spun his marker, darted out to the 65-metre line and received a neat handpass from Tiernan Killeen. Whelan turned towards Hill 16, eyed the posts, took aim and fired over the point. Nine seconds.Whelan not only scored the opening point of the contest, but in the fourth minute of injury time he barrelled through the Dublin defence to clip over what would be the last point of the 2026 Leinster final, too.The Kinvara man finished the game with 0-5, even with a 10-minute spell in the sinbin, but his contribution went far beyond his tally on the scoreboard. He displayed huge leadership throughout the contest, as he had done over the course of the provincial campaign.Much has been justifiably made of the youthfulness and relative inexperience of the Galway attack this season, but the presence of the 2017 Young Hurler of the Year has helped knit that attacking unit together.Whelan is only 29 but has been wrapped up in maroon and white for over a decade now. Not only is he a two-time All Star, but his 2023 accolade sees him currently stand as the last Galway hurler to pick up one of those individual awards.“He’s a player others in the panel would definitely look up to, there’s no doubt about that,” says former Galway manager Anthony Cunningham.Jason Rabbitte and Aaron Niland only sat their Leaving Certificate exams last year. Indeed, the pair were hurling for Presentation College Athenry in the All-Ireland post-primary schools final at Croke Park in 2025.Galway's Jason Rabbitte celebrates scoring a goal against Kilkenny in the Leinster SHC round-one clash at Pearse Stadium, Galway, in April. Photograph: Leah Scholes/Inpho A few weeks ago they were back at GAA headquarters helping Galway win a Leinster title. On Saturday, they will feature in an All-Ireland semi-final when the Tribesmen meet Cork. Quite the meteoric rise in such a short space of time.Of the six Galway forwards that started against Dublin in the Leinster final, considering Cathal Mannion’s deeper role, Whelan carried the most experience.Darragh Neary is another in his debut season, while Rory Burke only made his senior breakthrough in 2025.Tom Monaghan was the other experienced forward in the Galway attack and he delivered a man-of-the-match performance with a haul of 0-7, all from play, against the Dubs.Monaghan was part of the 2015 All-Ireland minor winning Galway team and two years later he came off the bench for the seniors to help the Tribesmen win the 2017 National Hurling League crown.Whelan was already in his third season with Galway by the time they were lifting that league title. Having starred with the county’s 2014 minors, he was called up to the senior squad by Cunningham in the summer of 2015.Despite having not featured in the Leinster campaign, Whelan made his debut by starting in an All-Ireland quarter-final against Cork in July 2015. He has been a championship ever-present pretty much since, missing only Galway’s provincial round-robin fixture with Westmeath in 2022.“Look, he was a great prospect back then, so skilful and had no inhibitions, it was a case of nearly having to play him because of what he was bringing to it even back then,” recalls Cunningham.Galway manager Anthony Cunningham celebrates with Conor Whelan after the Tribesmen's defeat of Tipperary in the 2015 All-Ireland SHC semi-final at Croke Park. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho “I suppose at the time he was young and raw and probably didn’t have the physique he has now. But he put in so much work to build up his strength and you certainly wouldn’t push him off the ball easily now. He’s a brilliant athlete as well as a fantastic hurler, and he’s also a wonderful fella off the field.“There’s a bit of Ciarán Kilkenny in him with the way he can control games and he brings a calmness because teammates trust he will do the right thing with the ball.”Whelan has made 65 championship appearances for Galway and at Croke Park four weeks ago he was their orchestrator-in-chief from the half-forward line.Galway will need all of his experience against Cork this Saturday. The Rebels have some new faces too, but in general it is a road-tested Cork side they will face.For Galway, Cillian Trayers and Cian Daniels are two more players who have nailed down starting positions in their debut seasons.Indeed, in the immediate aftermath of the Leinster final, Galway boss Micheál Donoghue was keen to emphasise the turnover of players in his squad.Of the Galway starting team that lost the 2025 Leinster final to Kilkenny, just five players lined out from the off in this year’s provincial decider – Whelan, Monaghan, Dáithí Burke, Pádraic Mannion and Cathal Mannion.Prior to this season, the Tribesmen had lost three of the previous four Leinster finals. They hadn’t won a game in Croke Park since 2020. This bunch of Galway players unburdened the county of a lot of unwanted baggage last month.“It is great to see so many good young players emerging for Galway,” adds Cunningham. “It might take a couple of years for them to fully develop but the signs are very positive and having a player like Conor Whelan in there to help them along and give them advice will be invaluable.”