Kiely questions necessity of League semis
a close.’ It looks now as well that Hayes will not be available for Limerick’s Allianz Hurling League semi-final against Kilkenny on Saturday due to an ankle injury — the only time he featured in this year’s campaign was against Dublin at Croke Park a month ago. ‘Kyle has trained really well over the last number of months. He has a bit of an ankle injury at the moment. He’s very much enjoying his hurling in the last couple of months but obviously there’s a challenge there when you pick up injuries in terms of trying to get back to a position where you’re finding improvements. ‘At this time of year you’d rather be training because you want to be getting stronger, you want to be getting sharper and you want to be involved. ‘You don’t want to be inside in the gym or on a physio table so all the lads that are injured at the moment are very anxious to get back on the training field.’ Limerick are the defending champions having beaten Kilkenny comprehensively in last year’s decider. With only a two-week break between the League final and the first round of the Munster SHC where Limerick play Clare in Ennis, Kiely said he would be happy to do away with semi-finals and move straight to a final to free up more space between competitions. ‘Yes, in a word. In an ideal world you would like a little bit more time between the competitions – I think another week would actually be plenty. ‘Is there a need for semifinals? I don’t think there is, really. The League is the League, there are plenty of variables in there to separate teams. ‘But with a view to the groups that will form next year’s league, it’s going to be very exciting.’