Limerick Person of The Month: Hurlers ‘raring for road’ as new season beckons

“WE are raring for road.” 

Five words which will be music to the ears of Limerick GAA supporters champing at the bit for some live hurling action.

Senior team manager John Kiely was speaking after accepting the Limerick Person of the Month award for his side’s All-Ireland triumph in December - their second time bringing the Liam MacCarthy Cup to Shannonside in the space of three years. 

“We are delighted to accept this award. The boys have had a great break and are very fresh now again and we are raring for road and we are all looking forward to getting back together as a group. We are ready to go back,” the Galbally man stated.

Given what has been happening in Ireland since December, the players, John said, have had plenty of time to reflect on their winter All-Ireland achievement but “haven’t had any real chance to celebrate it as a group”.

“At some point we will have to acknowledge the boys’ success of 2020 and we will do so when we can. Things are getting better, things are improving slowly. I know we are still at Level 5 but there is light at the end of the tunnel that hopefully, over the next number of weeks, we will be able to get back to some degree of normality and hopefully the most vulnerable will be protected and we can get back to training in the next month or so. We are looking forward to it very, very much indeed.”

When asked if the All-Ireland performance of 2020 was the most complete performance he has seen from his team, the Galbally man acknowledged that “yes, it was well up there”. 

“I suppose the previous year’s Munster final against Tipperary was another very complete performance right across the board. There have been different games over the years where the boys have demonstrated a level of dominance in a game that you would be very happy with throughout. Every game is different but that  definitely was up there as one of the best performances that we have produced and that the players have produced in the last four years, definitely.”  

With inter-county training and games not permitted under the current restrictions, the players are currently doing their own routines at home to keep themselves trim.

“It wouldn't be directed by us, that would be self-directed,” John explained. “They are not currently doing what they are doing for training, to be fit for the team or to perform for the team, what they are doing is really just getting exercise for themselves and for their own mental health and well-being and for their own physical health and well-being. It’s a case of needs must and it’s great for them to have that ability to decide what they can and can’t do and when they come back to us it will be more formal and structured.”

There has been plenty written in recent years about the importance of sports men and women switching off from time to time to recharge the batteries, both mentally and physically. “We are good at it to be honest with you,” John asserts, “we just turn off the system and I suppose everybody is busy with their own day jobs or studies or whatever it might be. There are lads doing exams and studying hard so we just completely switch off and when we get back together again, it makes it really fresh and something exciting and you have so much to catch up on then with all the lads. Even the backroom team and the management team, we get on really, really well with each other but when we’re off, we’re off and we don’t connect that much at all but when we get back in it’s lovely and fresh and we have a bit of craic again.” 

The art of managing different types of personalities in even the smallest of teams doesn’t come naturally to many so it takes a special type of person to lead a group of around 50 to the Holy Grail, not once, but twice.

There is no doubt John’s experience as principal of The Abbey School in Tipperary town - an all-boys secondary school with in excess of 400 pupils - has equipped him to deal with the challenges of managing a large team of young men. Modestly, he deflects the attention from himself to the “good routines and structures” that are in place for the squad.

“We stick to our routines. Everybody knows the routine and we have standards then as well. The standards are high and everybody is expected to maintain those standards if possible.”

The father-of-two feels that having different personalities involved “is a great thing for the group to have, as everybody brings something different to the table”.

“We have a lot of jokers in the group, we’ve a few singers - we have personality in the group. The group has its own personality and drive. We’re a good team. There is a good mix in there. Everybody comes with a very positive disposition and a bit of positivity goes an awful long way.”

Having an All-Ireland medal, or two, in your back pocket doesn’t however make any young man immune to the trials and tribulations of life and that’s where being part of such a tight-knit group can really benefit a player.

“We all have our days when we are maybe not at our best and we are with each other long enough to know that if somebody is having a bad day we can drop in with them or they can drop in with us,” said John. “We have a good understanding  - there is a good read there, we have a lot of really good people working around the group who are keeping their eyes open for anything that might be awry.

“Like all good teams, we look after each other.”

The Limerick Person of the Month award is sponsored by the Limerick Leader, media agency Southern and the Clayton Hotel.