GREEN GRASS OF HOME
From Nicaragua to Sri Lanka, Brazil to Costa Rica, there’s no better buzz than new Championship at this time of year
MARK GALLAGHER TALKS TO STEPHEN LUCEY
STEPHEN LUCEY’S doing a spot of gardening, taking advantage of the good weather. Even though he’s been out of the intercounty scene for three seasons, he still loves this time of year with the sun shining down on Limerick and both the county footballers and hurlers out on the same weekend.
‘It’s the first game of the Munster championship. The shorts and sunglasses are out. The grass needs cutting, people are talking about going to the beach and The Sunday Game came back to our screens last week.
‘This is a special time of the year. It sounds like I miss it, doesn’t it?’ he says with a laugh.
‘The first year was tough, alright. That was a hard one to get over, going to the first championship game that I wasn’t involved in. But it helped to have the club [Croom] to go back to. I don’t know what is going to happen when I stop entirely. I don’t know how I will fill that void.’
Lucey has been doing a good job of filling it since bringing an end to 17 years of service he gave Limerick in both codes back in 2015.
He has travelled a lot with his wife Fiona. In the last few years, they have seen some amazing places. Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina and Brazil. Next weekend, he will hope to add Ukraine to that list as the avid Liverpool supporter is searching for a Champions League final ticket.
‘I managed to get one for Istanbul in 2005. Unbelievable experience. Myself and a friend flew over on the day of the game, but it was for the Milan end. We were warned not to show our colours, but as soon as our second goal went in, I couldn’t contain myself,’ he recalls.
There will be no hiding the colours this weekend. Since first appearing as one of Limerick’s golden generation that won three Under-21 All-Irelands at the turn of the millennium, Lucey developed a reputation as one of those warrior-like figures that the Treaty County are famous for producing.
The footballers could probably do with someone of his presence as they face Clare in the Gaelic Grounds this evening before the main event tomorrow afternoon with the latest chapter in Limerick’s rivalry with Tipperary.
Lucey had a central role in one of the most dramatic recent chapters when the counties engaged in an epic trilogy in the summer of 2007. Coming out on top propelled Limerick to an All-Ireland final where Lucey charmed President Mary McAleese as she met the teams before throw-in.
‘They were magical evenings, those three nights against Tipperary. Huge entertainment for the whole country and the entire Limerick public got behind us. And that what happens when they see a Limerick team play with a real fighting spirit and a never-say-die attitude.
‘The supporters really get behind that and the team feed off that and get on a bit of a roll. That is what happened in 2007 and it happened in 2013 and 2014, too.
‘And that’s why I think this new format will suit Limerick down to the ground, because if a Limerick side gets a bit of momentum the whole thing can take off. And it doesn’t take much for the bandwagon to start up down here. If we beat Tipp, you could see it kicking into gear.’
The Limerick public only got to see their team twice last year, when the qualifier draw threw up Kilkenny. This year, they will get two games in the Gaelic Grounds alone.
The format looks perfect for someone trying to develop a young team, as John Kiely is doing. And the county has given him time and space to develop this young team. While plenty of gifted hurlers have come off the conveyor belt in recent years, Limerick know that two Under-21 All-Irelands in the past three years is no guarantee of senior success.
‘The Limerick public have learnt to be patient and not place too much expectation on the players,’ Lucey feels.
‘Limerick have been chopping and changing managers too much in recent years. Kiely has the respect of the players and seems to be a good man-manager.
‘And lessons have been learnt in the county that Under-21 All-Ireland are no guarantee of a senior All-Ireland. That is the message that seems to be coming out of the group, too.
‘But Limerick has become a very successful county in hurling now, if you look at colleges and Fitzgibbon, Ard Scoil Rís, UL and LIT, the Under-21s, Na Piarsaigh getting to All-Ireland club finals. You can understand the bit of excitement, especially with the public so hungry for success.’
While there is excitement in one code, the footballers are the forgotten part of the equation. Billy Lee revealed during the week that 53 players who were asked to come to county trials had politely declined.
Lucey says it is not just in Limerick that this is a problem and it’s time for the GPA to step in.
‘Do an audit of fellas who have refused to join a county panel. Nobody has refused to join the hurlers but Billy didn’t get all the players he wanted for Limerick footballers. And it is a problem for Division 3 and 4 teams.
‘The GPA should be trying to get to the root of the problem. Ask players is it because there is too much commitment and no enjoyment, is it because they couldn’t be arsed or is it because these guys say there is no point because they won’t win anything.
‘If that is the case, then it is a national problem and needs to be rectified.’
When Lucey was starting with Limerick seniors, he would have baulked at the idea of a secondary championship. ‘We had just come off an All-Ireland Under-21 final against Tyrone and felt we could give Kerry and Cork a rattle in Munster.
‘But if I was starting now, I might have a different idea. And if players aren’t committing to panels because they feel they have nothing to play for, then they should look at having a secondary competition, call it the Paidi Ó Sé Cup or whatever, and make sure it is promoted properly.
‘The sun is out, Sunday Game is back and people are happy’ ‘The GPA should be trying to get to the root of the issue here, is there a national problem?’
‘Play the final as a curtain-raiser to the All-Ireland final and make sure there is a holiday for the winners.’
And while there is excitement growing over the concept of the Super Eights, there isn’t much of a buzz in counties like Limerick. ‘It is just for the elites. For 50 or 60 per cent of the county footballers in the country, there is no chance of playing in them. It will just make the strong teams stronger.’
Lucey, who was recently inducted into the UCD Hall of Fame, says that he is also part of a GAA species that is going extinct – the dual county player. ‘I think the concept is goosed. It’s gone,’ he says.
‘There are too many games and games in both codes overlapping. Maybe we will see more of what Keith Higgins did during the National League.
‘He went playing hurling for Mayo and forgot about the football. I think that was more of a mental break for him. But perhaps that is one way to keep the dual thing going, play one code in league and another in championship. But you certainly can’t do both at the same time.’
And Lucey, who was able to juggle both codes with completing his medical studies early in the Limerick career, feels there is too much demanded of county players now.
‘The whole thing is so much more serious now. There is no switch-off possible if you are an inter-county player.
‘I was talking to James Ryan recently, he was Limerick hurling captain last year, and he was telling me about this app. It is software that all county teams now use where you have to input all this data all day, from the moment you wake up.
‘First thing in the morning, input how you feel and then do it all day. So you can never switch off from the fact that you are a county player.
‘So, it has gone very serious but then the pay-off is running out on the field to play Tipperary in the Gaelic Grounds. Nothing beats that buzz.’
And as the two neighbours write the latest dramatic chapter of their enthralling rivalry tomorrow afternoon, there will be a part of Stephen Lucey who wishes he was still out there.