HANNON’S JUST GLAD TO BE BACK

THE pieces are starting to fall back into place for Limerick.

Last weekend’s victory over Clare has them on the front foot, with Tipperary coming to the Gaelic Grounds tomorrow.

Skipper Declan Hannon has plenty of game time under his belt at this stage, with three matches since his return from the knee injury sustained in last year’s Munster final win over Clare.

Four-in-a-row All Star defender Sean Finn got 70 minutes last weekend, replacing the injured Mike Casey, while Peter Casey is back from suspension and listed on the bench this weekend.

Cian Lynch’s last quarter display against Clare suggests he’s finding his very best form again, while Gearóid Hegarty was the same.

When that duo in particular are purring, John Kiely’s men are hard to stop.

Darragh O’Donovan remains a huge loss, but Cathal O’Neill has staked a major claim for a starting spot.

Hannon said: “Not that we are used to it, but it has been part of our set up the last couple of years that there have been injuries.

“You look at Cian (Lynch) obviously in ’22, what a massive loss he was.

“And again it was just the next person stood up and get on with it.

“Darragh has been fantastic for us. I think he has not got the credit he has deserved in the last couple of years.

HE SHALL NOT PASS: Limerick’s Declan Hannon and Dan Morrissey block the path of Mark Rodgers of Clare

SPOTLIGHT

“His use of the ball is amazing. If you watch him properly, his deliveries to the full-forward line are probably the best in the country.

“He is a huge loss to us in the middle of the field.

“It’s another opportunity for someone else to come in and do something. Then once you have the jersey, you want to hold onto it.

“It’s up to him then whenever he comes back to get it back off you.”

Undroppable

Hannon (31) continued:“I don’t think there is anyone undroppable from any county.

“That’s a great position and that’s the way it has to be. If you see yourself as a guarantee to start, it’s not good. It’s not going to benefit yourself or the team.

“Cathal was probably the one shining light (in the Kilkenny league semi-final defeat).

“He was brilliant under Kilkenny puck outs. He caught any amount of them.

“If he just had a bit of help from the rest of us it might have been a different story in the end.

“After every game, we would do a review of what went right and what went wrong.

“Unfortunately a lot of what we did were the wrong things, wrong option-taking.

“Just not at the level to win a semifinal or any game.

“It was a tough video analysis session — that’s for sure. One we don’t want to be in again this year.”

Hannon says there is “pressure on everybody” for starting spots.

He continued: “You need to perform in training.

“You need to perform in games to give yourself an opportunity to get onto the pitch.

“But look, I suppose our panel has been strong over the last number of years.

“You see in a lot of games lads coming on and making an impact, and that’s what we hope will happen again this year regardless of who starts or comes on.

“It has to be about the squad.”

Speaking about his own return,

Hannon said:

“When you get a bit older, you have to be a bit more cautious.

“You can’t just go from zero to 100 straight away.

“Maybe 10 years ago I might have been able to do it but not anymore, which is fine.

“You just trust the physios, doctors and listen to what they tell you.

“At this stage I don’t want to take any risks or get a niggle or something like that and you’re out.

“The Championship is so condensed if you get a bit of a niggle or a knock you could be out for three weeks and that could be the whole championship.

“So just follow the instructions from the lads and sometimes these things take a bit longer than others but feeling fine, thank God.”