VISUALISING ALL-IRELAND WIN TRICK FOR TREAT

Psychologist key to ending 45-year wait for trophy says Richie

EVEN when dreams come true, it can often be underwhelming compared to what you imagined it might be.

Not for Richie Mccarthy. The Limerick defender had visualised in the run-up to last Sunday’s All-ireland final what it would be like if they ended the 45-year hex.

But it didn’t compare to the elation that pulsed through him when the fulltime whistle sounded.

He said: “It felt way better. Visualisation is not used enough in GAA.

“All week I had it in my head, I didn’t want to be thinking too far ahead because if you’re thinking of future things, you’re lost but all week I was just thinking it, whether I came on or not. “This panel is so tight with the 36 that we have, it didn’t really make a difference if I started or not, everyone is the same really on that panel.

“In the build-up to the game, even when you’re sleeping during the week, I always had the image in my head of running around Croke Park with that trophy in our hands and I wanted to go up to Hill 16 and go absolutely nuts with it, which I did.”

As it happened, Mccarthy, a real cult hero among the Limerick fans, did get on following an injury to full-back Mike Casey in the second half.

“I saw Mike Casey went down with his ankle in the first half and I was kind of preparing myself but I think he went down with cramp in the end.

“I suppose you’re mad to get into it, you’re very nervous at the start, your legs are gone to jelly as such but when you get the first ball and get the first tackle, you’re into the game straight away.

“You’re training 10 or 11 months and all your life for these occasions so that’s where you want to be. He [Johnny Glynn] was a big lad, I kind of knew ‘get the ball to the ground’ was the brief from the management before I went on, ‘make sure he doesn’t catch it’.

“He caught one I think but I think he scuffed the shot in the end, we don’t really care at this stage as long as we won.”

When Mccarthy came on, Limerick led Galway by eight points which later became nine before being whittled down to the minimum.

Mccarthy said: “We did a lot with our psychologist and you just have to keep in the moment I suppose. She always says that.

“In the Cork game, we were on the flip side of it coming from six points down, you just have to keep calm, keep realistic, keep playing the ball out, keep playing through the lines, don’t panic.”

That psychologist, Caroline Currid, enhanced her already impressive reputation with Limerick’s success having been part of Tyrone, Dublin and Tipperary’s Allireland winning set ups in the last decade.

Mccarthy added: “She had the experience, she told us about it. Even the day before, she said if you don’t pick up the hurley the day before a game, don’t do it, don’t change your routine.”