WATCHING GRIEF
Hannon’s not one for looking on from outside but he’s delighted to be involved this time around
MANY inter-county hurlers almost slavishly attend the All-ireland final every year but Declan Hannon isn’t one of them.
He’ll go the odd year but the deeper into the Championship Limerick have gone, the less likely he is to take in hurling’s showpiece.
“Obviously every year you want to be involved in them,” he said. “I went to last year’s one, other than that I hadn’t been to one in a few years.
“Sometimes it’s hard to watch them. In 2013 and 2014 they were hard to watch because we’d been in All-ireland semi-finals and you don’t want to be there unless you are playing. It’s nice to be involved this time of the year.”
It is the Limerick captain’s first final as a player. His first, and only, as a Treaty fan was in 2007 when they were comfortably beaten by a Kilkenny team striding towards its mighty peak.
He said: “Kilkenny in those few years, they seemed to go for the killer blow early on. It happened against the boys in 2007 and there was no coming back.
“I was on the Hill, I don’t know what age I was, 13 or 14 I’d say. It was a great occasion for Limerick. We enjoyed the day, as my family and friends will enjoy the day on August 19. But us as players have a bigger job on our hands than trying to have a bit of craic.”
Although still just 25, Hannon is in his eighth season with Limerick and might have expected to have graced the big day before now.
He came on board in 2011 on the back of a spate of players refusing to play the previous year under
Justin Mccarthy as they lost all their
League and
Championship games. They made steady progress under Donal
O’grady and then
John Allen and in THERE’S a certain symmetry between Limerick’s season and Galway’s last year - both of them turned on spring afternoons in Salthill.
The Tribe found themselves 10 points down in a League quarter-final at home to an understrength
Waterford side 16 months ago but – inspired by Joe Canning (inset) – they rallied to win by three. They stormed to 2013 became Munster champs. “After that we let ourselves down in the All-ireland semi,” recalled Hannon, as they fell to a seven-point loss to Clare. “Looking back I don’t think we were ready, in 2014 I don’t think we were ready either for the All-ireland semi.” But they appeared to be on the cusp of something as talented underage teams began to come through and TJ Ryan was enthusiastically handed a three-year extension as manager.
But he saw out just two of them as Limerick went backwards and it was only this year that results improved. “This year is just a bit different,” said Hannon. “Everyone is really, really tuned in and knows their job. “We are just a slightly different animal and are more ready than previous years.” No Limerick man League and All-ireland titles from there, denying Waterford once again in September. Similarly, Limerick found themselves nine in arrears to Galway at Pearse Stadium in March but pulled off a heroic comeback to win promotion to Division 1A at the champions’ expense.
It was the first sign of Galway’s struggles this year to hold on to commanding leads. “It was a turning point has lifted the Maccarthy Cup since Eamonn Grimes in 1973 and Hannon will be in rare company if he’s climbing the steps of the Hogan Stand at around 5pm tomorrow.
Naturally, he’s considered what he might say in his speech, just as Galway’s David Burke will have too.
He said: “I have thought about it. You have to get these things out of the way and tick a few boxes. The last thing I want to be doing is trying to think of who to thank on the day of the match.”
Beyond that, he tries not to be distracted by thoughts of emulating Grimes, Mick Mackey (1936, 1940), Timmy Ryan (1934), Bob Mcconkey (1921), Willie Hough (1918) and Denis Grimes (1897) as a Limerick All-ireland winning captain.
He said: “My mind has wandered like that since I was four and dreamt of it happening. But dreams are different to reality. We’ve a massive job ahead of us before we have to worry about that.” for us to get out of 1B,” admitted Limerick’s Declan Hannon. “The League and Championship are totally different animals, the intensity and all of that.
“Galway were coming back from winning an All-ireland last year and were a bit behind teams throughout the league and trying to get up to the fitness and tempo of everything.
“But I don’t think that match will have any bearing on the game on the 19th.”