Opinion: Limerick won't be derailed by the hype train - Shane Dowling

SO the talk has moved from ‘Limerick are favourites’, to, ‘who are playing for second position in this year’s hurling championship?’

Every time I hear it or someone says it to me, it’s the typical Kerry response, ‘yerra, shur anything could happen!’

It’s the same with pre-match interviews - nothing is given away and you are nearly half afraid to build expectations. I was talking to Marc Ó Sé last year, and we were discussing this very point. He said that in Kerry ‘game week’ - the week of the pre-match interviews with managers and players was known as ‘the week of the yerras’, and he is right.

You just want to batten down the hatches and keep yourself to yourself without landing some provoking headline a few days before the game which could add fuel to fire up your opposition. My point here is that, in normal circumstances, the hype around Limerick would concern me, but with these players and management at the helm, it doesn’t. Not because they are machines, but because they are clever. They don’t get fooled into believing what some people think, good or bad. They have their jobs to do, their business to take care of and it’s done the same way all the time no matter what is said.

Do players see and hear the stuff that is being said? Course they do! It’s impossible to escape it in this day and age. You see the headline, you hear the talk, and, at times, it’s all around you. If you were mentally weak or inexperienced, you could get caught, but I think that’s the beauty of these hurlers, they are neither.

So we know where Limerick stands, but where does everybody else stand? Well, right now, there are currently five teams standing in Limerick’s way, and after this weekend, it will be down to just three. In the order of the strongest first, this is where I rank the teams who could pose the most danger to us.

I think the one team that could upset the apple cart the most is Cork. They had 3 weeks off before they played Clare, and they looked very fresh and energetic. The one criticism I had of them is when the going got tough, who stood up? Well, the last day when Diarmuid Ryan put Clare a point up in the second half after they were 5 points clear, I was sure they were going to fold. But credit where credit is due, Cork showed great character and battled back to win. They served it up to Limerick in the Munster semi-final, they got the easier side of the draw in the quarter final, and if they were to dispatch Dublin and draw Limerick in Croker, they would be only mad for revenge for 3 years ago.

Kilkenny have gone the straight route similar to Limerick. I know Limerick could only meet them in a final, but they could be fiercely troublesome. By doing so, they also have 3 weeks off and can prepare the way you would like. For this reason alone it puts them in a very strong position, and whatever team they meet, will be either 3 or 4 weeks on the trot, and that is hard to do. Let’s face it, Limerick and Kilkenny would be favourites to meet in this year’s All-Ireland considering the route, but wouldn’t Limerick love a chance to right the wrongs of two years ago!

I thought Waterford were unbelievable last weekend. OK, Galway didn’t fire, but the energy, the directness, the passion, it was a totally different team to the team we saw against Clare. Not just personnel, not just positional, but the attitude. It was like the crowd and the players were in sync with each other. They were both on the same page from the get-go. I think the reason the crowd were so loud is because they fed off the energy on the field. With that momentum, I wouldn’t like to be playing them this weekend, and the only downfall I see for them not getting over the line is it will be their third week on the trot, which is far from ideal. And if they do win the weekend, heading into an All-Ireland semi final 4 weeks on the bounce would be a big ask.

Looking to Tipperary, in 2010 they came in the back door, and in 2019 they also did the same. But I think things were different then. Will what happened to them in the second half against Limerick mentally scar them? Or will they be able to regroup and go again? There are good lads in that dressing room, with a good manager, but I think Waterford will have too much pace and athleticism for them, and Waterford will be well aware that one swallow doesn’t make a summer. You get the feeling this really is last chance saloon for this group of players, and this year people were asking will Liam Sheedy stick or twist, and he stuck, so we will see if it was the right choice or not.

Dublin, to be fair, have done a lot better in the championship than I thought. Their league campaign was poor, but they turned it on against Galway and were Covid affected against Kilkenny. They face Cork at the weekend who will bring a fast running game which will be totally different to what they faced against Kilkenny or Galway. But I would expect a Cork win, and even if there isn’t, you would have to think they shouldn’t get too close to Limerick if that’s who they were to meet.

While we are coming to the business end of the championship, it’s still all to play for. There are no All-Ireland final match programmes printed yet so, who knows, there could be a shock in store - I just hope it doesn’t involve Limerick.