Hickey: Dealing with tag of champions bodes well for Treaty
EVERYTHING was going swimmingly for the Limerick hurlers before they were ransacked by Kilkenny in the last four after they succeeded where many others have failed by backing up their breakthrough All-Ireland victory.
Much of the talk last winter was of the level of expectation on Treaty shoulders after ascending the All-Ireland throne in 2018, but they thrived under the pressure on their way to league and Munster titles.
Things may not have finished as planned in the All-Ireland semi-final but former Limerick star Seamus Hickey places great stock on their ability to back up the hype and he believes it bodes well for the future.
“It’s good for Limerick that there was that ambition and that comfort with the tag of champions. The lads were just used to winning and they want to win things. They don’t want to show up to a game and not win it.
“There were questions about appetite and hunger about every team that wins the All-Ireland and I thought we answered the call very well,” Hickey said.
“John (Kiely) did very well in terms of how he managed the attitude and the approach. They did everything right bar the semi-final. And that makes it especially hard.”
Many have claimed that Limerick were the best team this year despite Tipperary lifting Liam MacCarthy, but Hickey doesn’t agree with that train of thought and the former Allinter-county
Star defender surmises that “it’s not about what if, it’s what you deliver”.
Hickey was confident that Limerick would retain their All-Ireland crown when he hung up his boots last December having finally landed an elusive Celtic Cross and he’s hugely optimistic for 2020 with John Kiely at the helm for a fourth season.
Much-heralded strength and conditioning coach Joe O’Connor may have departed but Hickey doesn’t envisage any drop-off with Mikey Kiely taking his place, while former team-mate Donal O’Grady is another positive back-room change.
“Mikey Kiely has gone in, a terrific addition. I don’t know if you want to say a disciple of Joe but Mikey was obviously there with John Kiely with the successful U-21 teams so there’s a familiarity there, he has huge respect among the players.
“If you’re talking about losing a really top-class coach in Joe, you’re getting somebody who is equally qualified, equally familiar and the dynamic between S&C and our hurling coach in Paul (Kinnerk).
“With Joe and Paul it was really perfect synergy, I don’t see that actually dropping off at all with Mikey. John staying on is massive.
“I craved continuity when I was there with Limerick. I probably had, in 12 years, something like eight managers and that inhibits a team’s progression. It’s super that Limerick has the likes of John and that he is able to commit.
“He’s the principal of a secondary school, what an enormous time commitment he’s giving. Another thing is Donal O’Grady coming on as a selector, you don’t have someone whose respected more than ‘Dodge’.”