Only a great team will deny Limerick another All-Ireland
WHEN you’re lucky enough to win an All-Ireland after a barren period, it’s easy to kick into party mode. I’m speaking from experience here.
Fellas hit the celebration trail over autumn and winter and while you do your best to keep the body and mind sharp, inevitably there’s some slippage. Your back is being slapped for months and you’re visiting schools and clubs with the cup and generally there’s a price to be paid.
With the notable exception of Kilkenny, who might have been the best team of all time, teams very rarely come back as strong after winning an All-Ireland.
Kilkenny have won 11 All-Irelands under Brian Cody and nine National Leagues so, after a while, they almost got used to the routine.
It’s completely different when you do it for the first time as a player, or after a long break for a county, like ourselves in Offaly in 1994. The whole place erupts. That’s why Limerick’s Allianz League success was so impressive. They have been very mature and have obviously realised that it’s worth keeping the foot on the accelerator.
That consistent excellence is the big reason their rivals should be worried going into the Championship. People say it’s very early in the year for Limerick to be going well. I’d counter that with a few points. Firstly, the strength of their squad suggests to me that they can carry their League form on through the summer.
Look at the starting team against Waterford last Sunday, they didn’t have Mike Casey. He’d been out a long time and came on in the semifinal and final for Tom Condon. In my opinion, Condon is playing better than he ever has, and he’s around a long while, so he’s really making Casey work for his place.
Seán Finn and Richie English have been excellent too and you have Paddy O’Loughlin, another really good performer, in and out of the half-back line. Diarmaid Byrnes and Dan Morrissey have been outstanding in the half-backs and you have captain Declan Hannon in there too. So a fella like O’Loughlin, who’d be on any other county team probably, is struggling to get in.
You could go on through all of the lines on the pitch and point to a guy who is putting similar pressure on; Shane Dowling, Barry Murphy, Pat Ryan, all these guys. So they have the depth to cope with an injury or two, or to shake up the team if needs be.
The second big reason Limerick’s rivals should be worried is because of their scope for improvement.
The half-forward line is maybe their strongest line. Gearóid Hegarty, Kyle Hayes and Tom Morrissey are huge men, physically and in terms of their leadership.
Yet all three were replaced in the semi-final. Morrissey came off again in the final. It’s not a massive worry but those lads aren’t quite hurling at the level they were last year.
John Kiely has had a look at Conor Boylan at number 12 and Dowling is capable of coming in also.
But I don’t know if they necessarily need to change the personnel as much as demand a bit more from the guys already there. I have no doubt that will happen and the players themselves will realise it.
Aaron Gillane falls into the same category. Limerick shot 16 wides last weekend and nine of them were from Gillane but he was still Man of the Match. Again, you imagine what these guys do if they tidy up the mistakes. Another string to Limerick’s bow is the range of scorers they have in the line-up. There were 10 different scorers in the League final.
They have a lot of serious players but three particularly outstanding ones; Gillane, Byrnes and Cian Lynch. Byrnes has been man of the match in a number of games for me, he’s been absolutely immense. Gillane the same in the final.
If I was picking just one player from the trio, it would be Lynch. He’s the man pulling the strings. His pass for Seamus Flanagan’s goal in the semifinal was sublime. It all bodes very well for Limerick coming into May.
The one cautionary note is that nothing is guaranteed in Munster considering how strong the province is. Limerick are flying but their first match is against Cork on May 19. Cork will have already played Tipperary the weekend before. Cork will either be fighting for their lives or thinking that two wins in a row would nearly leave them safe.
Either way that’s going to be a defining game for Limerick. Imagine they lose it, which wouldn’t be a giant shock considering they haven’t beaten Cork over 70 minutes this year or last. Then you’re heading to Walsh Park needing a win over Waterford. As it happens, Waterford are an outside fancy of mine to go close this summer.
The point I’m making is that nothing is cut and dried. Limerick have gone flat out and shown all their cards. Other counties haven’t, like Tipp and Cork. But my view would be that Limerick are well equipped to deal with whatever comes their way. It will take a great team to beat them.