All-Star Limerick hurler talks of the sacrifices needed to stay at the top

ALL-STAR winning Limerick hurler Dan Morrissey has spoken of the sacrifices which need to be made to stay at the top level.

The Ahane GAA man, who plays as a left-wing back, has been a key member of the Treaty panel which has won four out of the last five Liam MacCarthy Cups.

In an interview with former Cavan goalkeeper Alan O'Mara, as part of his Players Voice podcast, he spoke of the "small gap" between making the starting team and being off the panel all together.

"It's all about finding areas which need the most improvement and focusing on those areas. Look at what the lads ahead of you have that you don't have, and work extra extra hard on these areas. Then, just have a mindset that if you're doing a run in the middle of November in the lashing rain, are other people around the country doing that same run? Doing that extra gym sessions. Try and make those extra one percents which all add up, be it your nutrition, your sleep, an extra ball-wall session. At inter-county, it's such a small gap between the starting team and being just off the panel," Dan explained.

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There was widespread relief and jubilation when Limerick beat Galway at Croke Park in 2018 to bridge a 45-year gap and land the All-Ireland senior hurling title.

But it was a game earlier that year, also against the Tribesmen which Dan identified as being one which gave the panel belief they could go all the way.

"I know in 2018, we had a league game against Galway, a playoff to get up to 1A. Galway were the form team, All-Ireland champions the previous year and were flying it. We went up and won by a point-or-two. A game like that, even though it was only a league game in the month of March, it gave us great confidence. It can be something like a simple win like that which can kick start a year," he said.

"If you have a reference point of a truly great performance as an individual or a team that you can refer back to, and think about before you go out on the field, it gives you that extra bit of confidence. And when you go out with that confidence on the field, the ball just seems to bounce the right way. When you're low on confidence when you think the ball will bounce one way, it'll bounce the other way," Dan added.

It's actually a message which has stuck with the All-Star - a tax advisor in his day job with Deloitte - from the days of under-age hurling.

"I remember one of my under-age club managers used to say before we went out on the field, think about the best game you ever played and have that as your last thought before you go out on the pitch. It's such a simple message, but such a great message to give someone confidence," he added.

Unlike Tom his younger brother, Dan, 29, did not get to enjoy the same under-age success.

And in his early 20s, with Limerick hurling not then at the same level as the likes of Tipperary and Kilkenny, he did confess to wanting to follow his friends in travelling the world.

He told the podcast: "When I was younger, there was the thought that I'd love to do a few years abroad, whether its in Australia or wherever it may be. But as the hurling has gone so well the last few years, it was always going to be hard to turn around and leave the set-up we have at the minute."

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The agonising exits from the All-Ireland series made it harder to come back and train in the "lashing cold" of November and December, Dan admits.

"Thankfully, the last four or five years, you're going back with a great belief you'll be the or thereabouts the following year again. It's a lot easier to motivate yourself now for the tough running in the pre-season," he said.

But these efforts are paying off: "After these years, when you see friends going off on holiday, and you think, should you go with them, you do consider it. But thankfully, I kept the head down and it's all paying off now."

Asked how he hopes to be remembered at the end of his hurling career, the Ahane man hesitated, before coming to a conclusion.

"Hard work is always one which comes back to us in Limerick. You want to be known as someone who worked hard and left it all out on the field, and gave it his all every day he went out on the field I think that's all supporters and people can ever really ask for," he concluded.