‘Players pay heavy price’
On the go for two years solid with Na Piarsaigh and Limerick, Shane Dowling admits that playing the Treaty’s first Munster Hurling League fixture against Tipperary on December 14 under lights at the Gaelic Grounds, makes no sense. ‘To me, it sounds crazy. But if you’re John Kiely, he sees a value in it. Look at Séamus Flanagan last year, he wouldn’t have been known as a starter for the year ahead. He played the Munster League. Got a chance in the (Allianz) League and kept his position.
‘I don’t know any hurler who wants to play under lights, that wants to play in freezing cold, snow, hailstones. But would I rather play Tipperary on the 14th of December or go back to Rathkeale training for two hours? I’ll play the match every day of the week.
‘I think it’s between the two ears is the problem. You can be in the physical condition of your life, but if you’re not mentally ready to go hurling, that is actually what breaks people down. The mental side of it.
‘All it will do is shorten people’s careers.’