Please sir, can I have some Morr?
TREATY ACE TOM ADMITS HUNGER TO SUCCEED AND IMPROVE IS WHAT DRIVES THIS MEAN GREEN MACHINE
LIMERICK’S shock and awe All-ireland final winning performance was based on hunger.
It is the ingredient that has, in the words of their manager John Kiely, allowed his special group of players to keep pushing the boundaries.
Tom Morrissey knows that after three All-ireland triumphs in just four years, that same hunger is still pulsing through the veins of this Treaty team.
And it’s that positive force, Morrissey insists, rather than reacting to the one major negative of this golden period – the All-ireland semi-final loss to Kilkenny in 2019 – that has driven Limerick to new heights.
“I wouldn’t say we use the Kilkenny defeat,” explained the Ahane man as he reflected on this latest triumph, the 16-point evisceration of Cork.
“We lost that day, we weren’t good enough. Yeah, we did look back on it and assessed it, no different to any game. Win, lose or draw and we look for improvements and that’s all we did with that 2019 semi-final. But it wouldn’t have been a driving motivation or anything looking back on it. The nature we have as a group
is just constant improvement and that’s all we took from that semi-final loss.
“You’re always going to be hungry if you want to improve. With all the additions to the panel and people chasing your spot, if you have that desire to be a better hurler and a better athlete then you can always improve on all different facets to your game off and on the pitch, whether it be sleep or nutrition or in the gym, your hurling ability.
“It’s just that desire to be better. If you’re not moving forward then you are going to be passed out.”
Basking in the afterglow of this latest and historic success, Morrissey admits that once the green machine cranks into gear then it is seldom that any team can turn it off, as Cork found to their cost at Croke Park.
“When we get into a game then maybe we can be hard to stop,” he said. “We got into a flow and maybe got scores that were easier to come by. We pride ourselves on our workrate and that’s probably first and foremost – and the hurling follows from then.”
Morrissey scored 0-3 as part of the Limerick forward line that feasted on chance after chance, particularly in the first half when the defending champions scored 3-18, with all but two points coming from play.
It was a phenomenal period of play, perhaps the greatest half ever witnessed in an All-ireland final.
“Winning an All-ireland final is a great moment in someone’s life,” said Morrissey. “The dressing room is hopping there. We’re a happy bunch this evening, getting a third All-ireland in four years.
“Any All-ireland is a special moment for a team and this year is no different.”
To add to his sense of fulfilment, Morrissey’s brother Dan was at full-back as they shared All-ireland success again.
“Yeah, we’re very close as a group,” he said. “Every member of the team and the backroom team.
“It’s a special moment. We probably don’t realise how special it is in the moment, the fans get more excited for the games and around the club in Ahane but it is definitely a nice moment.”