STAKES ON A PLANE
LIMERICK hurling manager John Kiely has thrown his 2018 All-ireland winning blueprint in the bin as he plots the defence of their title.
As they depart today for their team holiday in Mexico they know that everything has changed for them because they are All-ireland champions.
Kiely (right) knows every team is gunning to beat them, while they also have the added pressure of being back in the National League’s top flight for the first time since 2010.
In 2018, Limerick surged through the League and won promotion with a perfect record, but their win over Galway to seal their spot in the top flight also propelled them on to greater things in the summer. And Kiely says his squad will have to be ready to take on a fresh challenge in 2019 if they are to build on what they achieved.
“No way, you can’t copy and paste, it has to be different. It will absolutely be different in 2019,” said Kiely.
“No matter what you do it’s never going to be the same so we have to treat it as such and that’s why in our planning we will be looking to change things up again for the coming year
“We haven’t had a big talk about it yet, it’s only December yet, let’s not jump the gun.
“We’ll have our team holiday and will be back for the New Year and the 1st of January is probably a mental switch between 2018 and 2019 and that’s the way would be treating it.” The luxury of being able to gradually build their intensity through the League until the final day shoot-out for promotion is not available to Limerick this year as they face five top-flight games in a six-week period. But Kiely Westmeath v Offaly, Lakepoint Park, Mullingar, 2pm
Wicklow v Louth, Bray Emmets, 2pm disagrees that Division 1B was less pressurised and says Limerick will be well used to tough spring games.
“I can tell you one thing, when you’re in 1B there is as much pressure on you because you can’t afford to lose a single match if you want to get out. People can’t see that from the outside in, but when you’re in there you know that if you make a slip up, even a draw can cost you.
“That internal pressure that’s on you to make sure you get those results is always there and obviously going into 1A it will be there too. It’s something we’ve looked to achieve of the last eight years so the huge prize for us to get into 1A.
“Now that were there we want to put our best foot forward. It’s a great platform for players to stake a claim on the jersey and when a fella gets in he wants to hold onto that jersey.” Clare v Cork, Cusack Park, 2pm SUNDAY
Mckenna Cup round 1
Cavan v Down, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm Donegal v QUB, Ballybofey, 2pm Monaghan v Antrim, Clones, 2pm