Criticism is part of life as a Limerick hurler, says Hickey
NO MATTER what happens on the field, the post-match ritual as both team buses leave Semple Stadium this evening will be the same. Almost all the players will have their heads buried in their smartphones, scrolling through social media.
One Limerick player will remain wilfully ignorant of the instantaneous public opinion on the game, though. Séamus Hickey is a rarity among today’s inter-county stars in that the experienced defender has neither a twitter nor facebook account. Social media’s not for him. ‘It’s not a position of principle or anything, it’s just that I am more comfortable not doing it,’ he says. ‘I could go on twitter and have a great time, follow Joey Barton like the lads and have a laugh. But you are opening yourself up on there and I am a bit more private. I will talk about Limerick hurling all day, our team and our games. But I like to switch off and keep myself to myself when I’m away from it.’
Hickey, appointed GPA chairman late last year after Donál Óg Cusack stepped down, believes the recent example of Cork goalkeeper Anthony Casey (who received abuse after his team lost the All-Ireland Under 21 final to Mayo) should act as a warning to players to treat social media carefully.
‘Having someone comment on your life without having any sort of appreciation for your life, I find that challenging. It’s a choice if you are on that platform or not. I choose not to be. And it’s not solely because of the criticism that can be on there, it’s that I like to keep a few thoughts to myself.
‘I genuinely do see a value to it [social media]. Players can build a profile and engage with people, and there are benefits to that. I have always said that the media to me is always a two-way relationship and that’s why I never had a problem dealing with the media. We are in a privileged position, but there is give and take, more so on social media.’
Given the wild mood swings that can afflict Limerick hurling, Hickey’s stance is sensible. They are the final team to enter this year’s race for Liam MacCarthy with nobody quite sure what to expect of the Shannonsiders. As it always shall be. Another spring was defined by their failure to climb out of Division 1B – it will be seven years and counting for Limerick down there when 2017 rolls around.
There were some positive elements in their defeat of Dublin in the League quarter-final, but a disappointing second-half display against Waterford in Thurles is the last memory anyone has of this Limerick team.
Hickey was battling a hamstring injury and missed the semi-final defeat but he has learnt to shield himself from the negativity that can exist within the county, at times.
‘The only negativity around me is if you meet someone or whatever and, to be honest, a lot of it is driven by me as a person. I have expectations every time I go out on a field myself and if I don’t meet them, I am going to feel bad, regardless of what anyone else says. And every player would be the same.’
Hickey has spent a decade hurling for Limerick and he has had to absorb plenty of harsh lessons in that time – his second season ended in the 2007 All-Ireland final defeat to Kilkenny. So he takes a pragmatic view of the harsh assessments TJ Ryan has received, locally, since the team went down tamely to Clare in what was effectively a promotion play-off in March.
‘The criticism that TJ got is no different to what, for argument’s sake, Davy Fitzgerald got last year when Clare had a bad season. It’s just part and parcel of it and it might seem a funny thing to say but when you are a county player, I think you have to actually take the criticism levelled at you by the public. At the end of the day, we are representing the Limerick people. That’s the dynamic.’
He’s honest enough to accept that he deserved criticism for his error in the final minute which cost Limerick the All-Ireland qualifier against Dublin last summer.
‘We were ahead in the last minute, and myself and Richie McCarthy went up for the same ball. That’s unbelievably frustrating, to make an Under 12 mistake at All-Ireland Championship level, really frustrating.’
Limerick’s consistency has been a problem in recent years. A good summer is often followed by a bad one. However, with Na Piarsaigh capturing the All-Ireland club title and the gifted bunch of U21s claiming the All-Ireland last September, there’s a sense that the good times could return for the Treaty County.
However, Hickey doesn’t accept that those successes should increase the pressure on the seniors ahead of today’s Munster semi-final.
‘I wouldn’t put a connection between the two. I’d say it was a huge lift for the county, especially the U21. It all feeds into a very positive narrative about Limerick hurling at the minute.’
After winning three U21 All-Irelands in style at the turn of the century, Limerick floundered at senior level. Success never came. The memory of that is tempering expectations this time but Hickey believes the county is better placed now to maximise those successes.
‘The under-age structure in Limerick now has sustained competitiveness at minor and U21 and the county board has done an awful lot of good work over the past six years to maintain those structures. The three-in-a-row 21s, they didn’t have those foundations.
‘I sat in Thurles last year at the U21 final, rubbing my hands because these guys are coming into the senior squad and are coming for my position. I embrace that, look on it as a challenge. There’s no successful team that doesn’t have that competition, internally. It will make us stronger.’
Having grown up in a world where social media is simply part of life, those young tyros must scratch their heads when Séamus Hickey tells them he has no twitter or facebook account. But in a world where, increasingly, everything is instant, Hickey’s old-school values may ensure Limerick are in safe hands this summer.