LIMERICK LEADER
Level-headed Byrnes keeps setting example
DIARMAID BYRNES is neither superstitious nor overly bogged down in the little details or preparation.
But don’t mistake that for someone who doesn’t take his game seriously.
He insists there is no comparison from the kid who made his Limerick senior debut back in 2016 – a year where the Treatymen exited in a round two qualifier against Clare – to where he’s at now.
In 2017, John Kiely’s first year in charge, a knee injury ended his Championship.
In 2018 he was nominated for an All Star as John Kiely’s men turned the hurling world upside down to land a first All-ireland hurling title in 45 years.
By 2022 he was Hurler of the Year (inset) and last year the Patrickswell man landed another nomination for the biggest prize in the game, as well as winning a fourth All-ireland and All Star.
But the big striking wing-back says he is an entirely different player now. “There is no comparison strength-wise, knowledge of the game and my collectiveness for the team,” he said. “It just comes with experience.”
Of the level of preparation that goes into being a Limerick player, Byrnes is using that experience to good effect.
He continued: “It’s ingrained. Even going to training in January, you’d think you haven’t done a block of running in so long but you get through it because you have those years of training.
“There is an immunity built up you might not know about and I suppose the same psychologically. You have built a strength for this period of time, you have been through it. I don’t reflect much on it, I wouldn’t from game to game or year to year.”
Byrnes’ latest batch of awards are in his parents’ house and will stay there.
“It is an Irish thing with regards to self-praise,” he said. “We all sense it as cockiness and we’re kind of half-afraid to say things. But those awards are sitting at home.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to have won them but they’ll stay with the parents and that’s their kind of pride and joy. That’s their reward. It probably won’t be until I retire that I’ll reflect back and say, ‘It wasn’t a bad career’. But those accolades are there but they’re only there because of the lads in the group and the lads in the panel who helped me get there.
“The management and the trainers, they help you get to a point with little nuggets in training and how to be better with analysis and nutrition.
“There’s a whole wider picture to winning a couple of All Stars.
“There’s a bigger picture that entails family, friends, partners – they all contribute. That’s the fact of it. There’s a wider community, is probably the way to put it, who are behind all this success.
“I suppose for me it’s just being consistent with training, consistent with recovery, consistent with trying to be better.
“It is nutrition, sleep, recovery. I suppose when the round-robin stage gets going in Munster, that’s a fairly challenging period.
“When you have a match on a Sunday, we’ve to get up on a Monday morning and do a week’s work. You could potentially have a match on Saturday evening.
“Now, that’s a test of character. That’s a test of your consistency. That’s a test of how you contribute to the group.
“I suppose those are the kind of things that get me excited.”