WHAT HAVE LIMERICK AND WILLIE MULLINS GOT IN COMMON?

THE more I see of Limerick this season, the more convinced I am that they are getting even better.

There is a narrative out there, primarily because of how they had to battle so hard to get out of Munster last year, that the gap between the champions and the rest was narrowing. But that may have been wishful thinking.

While others have chosen to play silly games this spring, Limerick have been winning and building to become even stronger.

In the past, great GAA teams have invariably withered and gone into decline because of a misguided sense of loyalty to a group of players weighed down by All-Ireland gold.

Mick O’Dwyer’s great Kerry team of the 1970s/80s would have been a classic example of that, making hay while the sun shone but forgetting to manure the field for future harvests.

As a result, they disappeared off the cliff edge for a decade. But right now Limerick are a team that seem to be as occupied with the future as they are with the present.

With all the inevitable hype generated by their drive for five, John Kiely could be forgiven for going with the tried and tested, albeit injuries opened the door for some experimentation this spring.

ACTUALLY ‘experimentation’ is the wrong word, because under Kiely and Paul Kinnerk, Limerick are not in the habit of taking chances, every step is planned with the purpose of making the team stronger, the panel deeper.

It is staggering to see the talent that is now at their disposal, with back-up options for just about every line on the field.

Adam English has slipped into their attack this season as if he was around for an age, but then the 21-year-old is probably around longer than you realise.

He made his senior debut two years ago in the league and prior to that was identified early as a senior prospect, ensuring that he was exposed to a training and conditioning environment that would allow him to make the step up to the senior game.

He was the best player on the pitch last Sunday against Galway but that was no accident because he has been prepared for the last couple of seasons to be that player.

The same with Fergal Connor, a name that might not have scratched the national consciousness previously, but who has been part of the extended panel for the past two All-Ireland-winning seasons.

Colm Coughlan is now enjoying the kind of sustained game-time his talent deserves, while the repositioning of Cathal O’Neill to centre-back underpins the astuteness of Limerick’s management.

A rare talent, he has always been seen as a half-forward, and over the past couple of seasons has either been a starter, in the absence of Cian Lynch, or the first man on. But it is only in the last month that he has truly looked comfortable in his skin.

Blessed with great hands, powerful in the air and as pure a ball striker as you could care to see, he has fitted in perfectly in that role, but then centre-back is the dream place for a high-end hurler to play in the modern game.

You are often the focal point on puck-outs, the ball invariably works through that line and when you have the capacity to sting from distance, then it is tailor-made for a player of O’Neill’s skill-set.

Now, come the championship, Kiely may well return to his favoured half-back trio of Diarmaid Byrnes, Declan Hannon and Kyle Hayes, but the confidence which O’Neill will take from this spring will be brought with him to wherever on the field he is playing.

When you look at how the best team in the land has found a way to become even stronger, then you would fear for the rest.

And of course, they have the resources that the others can’t match.

That is a more sensitive topic in all sports and not just the GAA.

Willie Mullins racked up his 100th winner in Cheltenham last week and has taken to winning the Gold Cup like Limerick have taken to winning the Liam MacCarthy.

There is a reason for that, outside of the fact that he is a great trainer of National Hunt horses. He also has access to the best horses in the business so his domination of the sport is hardly a mystery.

John Kiely has the best hurlers in the land and his set-up enjoys the financial support of JP – as indeed does Mullins’ stable with horses in training – and the McManus family.

And JP deserves credit in that he is a genuine hurling man as anyone will testify in South Liberties, but when you put that kind of wealth in with this much talent and the best management team in the game, there is no mystery as to why Limerick are where they are .

But underpinning all those advantages is a core honesty of the group. While others pretend to be smart by playing silly mind games and not putting their best foot forward lest they ‘show their hand’, Limerick are simply smart because they know that nothing beats winning.

There are some out there who believe that winning the Allianz League is more a hindrance than a help.

Funny, how Limerick’s three spring titles have not hindered them in winning five All-Irelands and six Munster championships, isn’t it?

And before that, Brian Cody won 10 league titles with Kilkenny and I think you will find they fared pretty well on the championship front.

To be fair, Kilkenny still is a county that plays hurling rather than shadow boxing and today they will know that the sooner they can get a win over Limerick in a game of significance the better it will be for them.

The bad news is that it will not be today. Or tomorrow.